Paths Taken
by Jo A Curl
Summary: (2) Orig. Series Barn/Vicki pairing, picking up from Shadows Evil Embrace, Vicki deals with her trip to the past, finds she has more than one interested admirer and a stranger with piercing blue eyes and a taste for debauchery comes to town to stir trouble for all of Collinwood.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Prolog

_My name is Victoria Winters; my life has not been the same since my return from the nightmare that was the past. I find that I am confused, afraid, and lost in what was my life. The man I knew in this time was a kind, generous and caring man. The man in the past was very much the same but he had taken paths that lead him to the death of most of his family. _

_In that lifetime, which is what it seems it was, the Peter Bradford that so strongly resembles Jeff Clark could be as Barnabas from the past and today; one and the same man. I must admit that Trask from then and the Trask today are vastly different. Where one was a lascivious debauched man of lust to the Trask of today; who is focused, directed and somewhat possessed for success may be the same but something about them is different. _

_Where one-man wants to make a name for him self as a successful lawyer the other wanted to make a name for him self as a successful witch hunter. Now I find myself once again surrounded by familiar faces, yet unfamiliar and it unnerves me. Those from the past have contemporaries' in this time but in different veins. Again, I am confused and afraid. I cannot say why but I know that my life is in danger and hangs in balance between light and darkness. My skin crawls with the ambivalent feelings of flux and calm._

Widows Hill

Victoria ambled towards a path that had been worn down over the many years of others traveling to the location known as Widows Hill. The sun was just beginning to fight for its last hurrah guiding itself to the west horizon to set in a final burst of orange, red, yellow and a hint of grey as the thin cloud bank that preceded a front was making its way to the coast.

That was what was so upsetting. She had remembered going back in time and living with people that she had read about in the Collins Family History and some she had not read about. She knew how close to death she had come and she was frightened at the thought that she might not have made it back to her time, to this place she had come to love. She sighed stepping to the edge of Widows Hill and looked down at the crash of the waves in their deadly pursuit to try and wear down the rocks that had formed this hill many thousands of years ago.

This was the place, that Josette had plummeted to her death and there had been nothing that Vicki could do to prevent her death. She was so beautiful and sweet and so much in features like her dearly departed friend Maggie Evans. Vicki had been struck at how close her resemblance was to Maggie.

Looking up at the now darkening sky she felt the rise of the wind. A wind that if one listened close enough could swear that it was wailing out the names of those that had jumped willingly from this cliff so long ago. It was a sound that had called many to their deaths to the rocky abutment below.

"Why Josette? I know you loved Barnabas not Jeremiah? Was it guilt? What sent you over the edge to the embrace of such a cold painful death below?" She had not realized that she has spoken aloud and when the deep sad voice behind her answered,

"Perhaps it was because she was running from something that frightened her more than her guilt, her love or her common sense and was fighting it when she fell?"

Hearing that voice she spun around and nearly lost her own footing and felt that sickening uncontrolled feeling of falling. "VICKI!" His voice was filled with panic and fears he rushed with inhuman speed to reach out and grasp her hand and jerk her body back and close to his. He could feel her heart beat in her wrists. He held them tightly to his chest, and in her chest, her heart was racing with her fear of nearly tumbling off that cliff to certain death below. He could smell the pheromones of her fear on her body. The very palatable smell of a heightened chemical reaction of fear filled his senses and then amongst that was her smell, the smell she used in her shampoo, her soap and her perfume.

The smell she chose that was what was hers; lilacs that now filled his very sensitive senses. His nostrils flared with the scent of something different than her fear, her anxiety, and her lilac smell. There was another close by and he could smell him too. Her breathing began to slow and relax and she swallowed to keep her voice steady, she rested her forehead against the strong expanse of his chest and it felt normal again, it felt right and it felt secure. Her words were soft and it held a hint of regret. "Barnabas. You can let me go, I think I am fine." Barnabas smiled and stepped back with her still held tightly and close to his body. She awakened in him something he had not felt for a very long time. The feelings surprised him. It was a long forgotten feeling, ones he thought he would never have again.

Old House earlier after rising from his sleep of the dead

Barnabas had arose from his sleep, he gently stroked the top of the highly polished coffin and sighed, looking around what had become his life, he walked slowly up the steps to the drawing room and paused looking around the area. His thoughts began to drift back to a time he was trapped and unable to live his life. He began to remember those long nights he laid awake in his coffin, and thought of Josette falling to her death off that cliff, the feelings of want and need he felt the blood lust wash over him and the thought he would lay in this state until the end of time. Oh how fortunate for him he had connected with Willie Loomis standing in the grand foyer of Collinwood and craved those jewels as much as Barnabas craved blood. To manipulate his mind through his portrait had been too easy, something he had learned over years of isolation was to focus and see the changes while they occurred and the people that now occupied the great house of Collinwood.

There was the lovely visitor Maggie Evans, she who so resembled in his fever filled mind his Josette and he knew that she had arrived to be friends with the very pretty governess, and then there was the woman that now was the matriarch of the house that so closely resembled his mother. He could not forget the weak chinned male that was like his father, and the boy that looked so much like Daniel. He hoped that this is what was awaiting him on his homecoming. He in his way prayed it was not because of his delirium from the blood lust.

Barnabas had learned to focus his thoughts and project his senses through that portrait and in his way he was no longer lonely. He had found a way to live on through his picture. It did not help his need for blood or the waves of pains that rushed over his body when the cravings sometime consumed him. It was during those times that he was using his ability to focus through his portrait to circumvent madness that surely threatened to over take him and find a calm learning to wait and be patient.

Then 'he', the overbearing being that was named Jason Maguire had come into Collinwood. Arrogant, mean tempered, and filled with lust and need. A need to be rich and do what he wanted when he wanted. Oh yes it was through the pale-faced man with a mean temper and greedy young man that Barnabas would seek his release. That was how Barnabas would tempt Willie Loomis to release the force of darkness over Collinwood. There was weakness in him and Barnabas knew he could exploit that with his vampiric senses. It began with the sound of a heartbeat coming from the picture, a simple suggestion projected to his weak mind. He could see through the portrait into Willie Loomis' psyche and could see what he was thinking though his gaze. Willie's eyes were in deed windows to his soul and his soul at that time had been black and unredeemable.

Barnabas could easily manipulate those thoughts that seemed to be transmitted to him in his coffin through the portrait into Willie's greedy soul. "_Jewels, beautiful, and expensive they are just waiting for you Willie. They want you to find them, so come and see, come and find them. They are doing nothing but lying around the necks of decaying corpses, no one will miss them_." So simple it had been to watch from the portrait his slow cruel smile slide across those thick lips that were made for such smiles. Oh so easy it had been to guide him to Barnabas' resting place and then to help him find the secret lever and the sealed coffin.

Then there was the look on Willie's face when he opened the coffin and Barnabas opened his eyes and smiled at him, revealing the teeth that would easily pierce his skin to taste of blood that then flowed down his long parched throat. He had to be so careful, not to drain him completely, Willie was going to be his slave and do his bidding and he could not kill him, not yet that is, he had a need for him. Taking enough blood to put him under his control, Barnabas remembered going to mist form and floating out of his prison and heading to Collinsport to reform in his dated clothing and look with shock and astonishment at the changes that had occurred over nearly two hundred years. He changed again, knowing the way he was dressed he would be noticed and that was something he had not wanted.

Floating to the place he had known as the Eagles Nest he had discovered it was now called the Blue Whale and there she was Maggie Evans the woman that so closely resembled his darling Josette. She was with a tall handsome youthful looking man wearing a seaman's peacoat and knew he would be no problem should he decide to transform this beauty into more than what she was. For now though she would have to wait. He needed to feed and he had seen a delectable young thing on the docks that needed his immediate attention.

Widows hill current time

Those thoughts slipped away and now he was brought back to the present and to the lovely woman that was held in his arms that trembled at how close she had come to death. His thoughts were, "_How tragic that fall would have been to loose Vicki as I had lost Josette_." Pushing aside that thought he looked down at the top of her head and then rested his chin in her hair and inhaled the scent of her. She was so much like Josette in many ways and then there was this familiar part of her that rang in his subconscious mind that was now filling his thoughts of a woman that had shown up with a memory loss. She had been there in the past and he had taken note of her and now he held her in his arms. "Victoria?" He pushed her back to look into her eyes and smiled seeing how they changed colors with the flush of emotions she was running through her mind by being in his arms. It was those hazel colored eyes that were not a true green, or grey, or blue. They held a hint of all colors with each emotion she expressed within her mind. "Victoria are you recovered?"

He watched her blush she reluctantly pushed away from him. "I am sorry for being so childish."

Barnabas held his emotions in check; to give in to them he would give the watcher in the woods a hint at what and who he was. "It is not being childish to nearly have plummeted to your death below my dear. To me it seems it should be a natural reaction." He reluctantly released her and stepped back adjusting his cane to a more supporting position instead of draped over his arm. "You really should not be out here alone and so late my dear. Had I not seen you headed this way while in route to Collinwood, I shudder to think what could have happened."

Vicki pushed her hair back and was suddenly uncomfortable with their isolated position on widows hill. "Yes, I am very grateful for your intervention, thank you Barnabas." She stepped back and then around him to the pathway that would take her back to Collinwood.

"Am I interrupting?" The deep voice that Vicki had remembered from her trip so long ago, caused her to instinctively step next to Barnabas' body, and felt his protective arm go around her waist. "Trask? What brings you out here?"

Gregory Trask stepped into view. An easy faux smile played across his lips as he looked from Victoria to Barnabas. "I was looking for Miss Winters and hoped to find her here, when she was not at Collinwood."

Barnabas could feel her trembling she had averted her gaze from Trask and focused on him. He could feel her need for his protection while in the company of Trask. Barnabas smiled inwardly he could see his previous suggestion was still in place or . . "Well yes, she met me here because we were planning a sunset stroll along the beach and then we were going out to dinner."

Trask's smile tightened, "I see, well perhaps we could make a party of it?" He stepped forward with a tight smile edging his eyes and darted his gaze from Vicki then to Barnabas. Trask gently took her hand in his and drew it to his lips to place a moist kiss on her knuckles. Vicki forced herself not to recoil from his touch. Though he was younger than Reverend Trask he still looked remarkably like him and she was filled with revulsion.

"Why would we wish company on our date Mr. Trask?" Barnabas found the man to be impossible.

"To kill two birds with one stone so to speak." He smiled and that smile was a reminiscent as the one Reverend Trask had used when he was plotting something. "That is supposed to mean what Mr. Trask?" Vicki spoke softly in the close protective confines of Barnabas' hold.

"That means my dear a chance for someone to explain the night of the party and your disappearance and then sudden reappearance."

Vicki lowered her gaze and bit her bottom lip and sighed, then turning to look up at a well beloved face before her trip back in time and then her return she felt even closer to this man. He had become her protector from all things that were a threat to her health and mental well being. "I have no objections to his joining us Barnabas as long as you do not oppose it?"

Barnabas knew that if he did object he could bring about unnecessary notice to him at a time he could not afford this extra scrutiny he nodded, "It would be our pleasure, we were going to Lookout Point."

Vicki put a hand to his and shook her head. "I was thinking tonight could we go to the Blue Whale?"

Barnabas bent over and whispered in her ear. "My desires are your desires my dear of course the Blue Whale."

Barnabas studied Trask and like Vicki was finding similarities to him and his Great, Great Grandfather to be a little to close to home. Just as he did not like Gregory Trask he was finding the junior Trask equally disagreeable. However, not wishing to create a problem that would be unnecessary to his plans, he smiled his own humorless smile and nodded, "As the lady wishes, I am sure she would like to change before our date, so shall we adjourn to Collinwood?" Barnabas shifted her so that she stood at his side and he gently tucked her hand into the bend of his arm. With a courtly bow to Trask he stepped forward with Vicki taking the path back to Collinwood.

Between Logansport and Collinsport

Maggie walked along the roadway with the little girl she had come to know while held captive at the old house. "Sarah, I am growing tired, how much further do we have to go?"

Sarah shrugged, "Not much further, come on if we sing along the way it won't be so spooky and will make the time move faster."

Maggie chuckled softly as she fell into step with the sweet child at her side and together they began to sing the song that had gotten Maggie through days of hell while locked in that cell below the old house. "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, falling down, my fair lady. Take the key and lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Take the key and lock her up my fair lady. . . "

The two voices blended together and floated through the night air to lie upon the innocent ears of another that stood and watched curiously as the lovely red haired woman and the small oddly dressed child walked along the wooded pathway. The tall angular featured man with long side burns smiled and his smile was not pleasant while he studied the two. "Oh my yes how delightful, and this plot could work into my plans perfectly." Turning from the flat tire he had finished changing he turned to offer them a ride and was surprised to see they both had disappeared and were no longer in sight.

Collinwood

Vicki walked into her room and studied the minimal wardrobe in her closet and finally decided on the pink dress with the deep purple belt. Pulling it out she laid it on the bed and stepped back and sighed, she really had not planned on going out tonight with Barnabas or for that matter that man Trask and she was certainly glad Barnabas has shown up when he did otherwise she might have found herself alone with a man that was the exact double to a man that had terrified her in the past. She folded her arms and felt the scar that had been the gunshot from Jeremiah's missed bullet. That was enough proof to remind her that she had gone into the past. Otherwise, from where would that gunshot wound have come? Lifting the dress she unhooked it from the hanger, inserting the hanger back in the closet. Taking the dress she walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Making a quick shower and change into the dress, she put her other dress into the dirty cloths hamper.

Stepping back to her room she combed her hair, tied it up with a ribbon the same color as her belt then turned and grabbed a deep purple sweater, The short sleeved dress with the empire waistline was not going to be warm enough for the Blue Whale. Spritzing a small amount of lilac perfume over her body she stepped back and smiled. She was ready as she turned to exit the room she pulled the door shut softly and from the corner another figure stepped out to look over the room. Walking to the dresser the transparent figure gently ran her fingertips over the beautifully scripted gold and glass music box and a sigh escaped, "Oh Barnabas can you not find happiness with this one without trying to make her over in my image?" She drifted about the room then stopped, perhaps there was one that could help her, and it was a mater of finding him and sending him to the Blue Whale. Slowly the figure of Josette disappeared from the room leaving behind only the smallest scent of her jasmine perfume.

David's Room

Vicki having forgotten her clutch turned back and walked into the room and paused, the strong scent still covered the room even in the smallest of a hint and Vicki smiled, "I am glad you are still with us Josette, I hope you can forgive me for not saving you." She sighed softly, walked to the closet and removed her clutch. Leaving her room she walked down the hallway when she was drawn to David's room. He sat at his small table and worked on his lessons. Glancing up he smiled seeing Vicki dressed in her best dress.

"Hello Miss Winters, are you going out?"

Vicki stepped in to see where his progress was on his homework, "Almost done?"

He smiled, "Gee you look pretty." She bent over and kissed his forehead. "Thank you, and it looks like you are on the last lesson."

David looked up finishing his last problem. Smiling brightly he said, "All done Miss Winters. I hope you have a nice time tonight, who are you going out with? Is it that nice Mr. Garner?"

Vicki glanced at his papers and curbed her natural instincts to take and grade them and then remembered she had guests waiting on her. "Actually Barnabas and Mr. Trask are both taking me to the Blue Whale tonight." David scowled as he thought about her going out with those two.

"Sarah says that you need to watch out for Barnabas that he is dangerous. She also said Mr. Clark was evil and that he is using Carolyn and that Mr. Trask wears too many faces to be trusted."

Thinking about the Sarah she knew in the late 1700's she felt this was not Sarah's words but more of David's words. That she suspected, as he was getting older he was getting interested in girls and had formed a light crush on her.

"Well you can assure Sarah that I shall take her words to heart and consider them. But for tonight I am going with Mr. Trask and Barnabas to a very public place."

Again as an after thought she bent and hugged David, "You smell too good for them."

Vicki giggled, "And you are growing up so fast. Now take those papers down to the library and leave them for me on the desk. Good night David." She walked from his room and towards the second story door that led to the upstairs landing.

Drawing Room Collinwood

Trask paced the drawing room checking his watch and looking towards the doors. "Why is it that women take so long to get ready?"

Barnabas smiled patiently and glanced to the mantle clock then back to the furiously pacing man that seemed to hate being kept waiting. "You know a beautiful woman is worth waiting any amount of time. That is the problem with men of a modern age, they are impatient and expect it to happen instantly. When in actuality things worth waiting for last a lifetime."

Barnabas spoke with a confidence of a ageless gentleman.

Trask stopped pacing looked impatiently at his watch. "Yes, but when you want to spend time with the lady in question every minute spent in her company far out weighs the time wasted waiting for her."

The door opened and closed with a slam and a very petulant Carolyn sauntered into the room. "Men!" she gasped out in anger and frustration. Both men taking exception to that comment looked at the lovely blond girl with a pouty look on her face.

"What puts you into such a mood of pique Cousin Carolyn?" Carolyn walked to the sofa and slumped down next to Barnabas and then looked up at Trask,

"Because you are more fickle than we women." She crossed her arms to accent her words.

Trask studied the blond beauty before him. "And who has earned your disagreeable mood my dear?"

Carolyn stood and marched with a sense of irritation, very reminiscent of her Uncle Roger; to the liquor hutch and poured herself a strong drink of brandy and drank it down and felt the burn of the liquor as it slid down her throat. "Why that Jeff Clark, he is a pig! He said he wanted to see me tonight and when I went to Lookout Point he was wrapped up in the arms of some blond hussy!"

Barnabas shifted uncomfortably knowing full well what blond woman he was with and having his arms around. She had come back even from the dead but was not undead as he and Peter Bradford, she was alive and warm and breathing and the crux of his curse. "I see, well what about Willie? Did I not see you with him at the ball?"

Carolyn turned and glared at Barnabas, "He can't leave the house because he is doing work for you and now here I am alone for the night and bored, bored, bored!"

Barnabas slid a sideways glance to Trask. "Well as it would happen my dear cousin, it would seem that Mr. Trask is a third to our party tonight and I am sure he would not mind your tagging along with us to the Blue Whale."

Trask being put in a corner on this particular comment smiled graciously, "I would be honored to have you accompany us to the Blue Whale tonight."

Carolyn brightened and started to giggle, "So things could work out for all of us tonight!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Old House

Willie Loomis stood on the ladder, scrubbing the chandelier. He had been happy that Barnabas has the electricity put in and now while he scrubbed the wax off of this beautiful crystal piece he knew it would be the last time he would need to do so, that the light that had been recessed into the ceiling would shine down and be displayed onto the crystal. It would glisten and shine with a brilliance that no stinking candles could. He had felt kind of odd since Vicki returned from the past and had some problems with believing she had traveled back to the time that Barnabas was normal. He had been busy with his task and did not wish to push his luck with Barnabas. Barnabas had not beaten him senseless in some months and he was on a roll so he figured he would stay on the good side of him.

The knock at the door startled him enough that he almost toppled of the ladder. "Shit." Grabbing the ladder to right it he muttered and the ladder quit moving. Slowly on shaky legs he backed down the ladder to peer out the front door to see Carolyn standing all pouty face on the front porch. "What the hell?" He walked to the front door and slid the dead bolt back and opened the door.

The petulant and spoiled little rich girl huffed past him and stood with her hands shoved into her expensive leather coat. "Took you long enough to answer the door. What were you doing?" Willie did not like meeting her dressed with his apron and covered in brasso and silver polish.

"I was on a ladder, what do you want?" Carolyn glared at him, thinking she lowered herself to come here to see him. "I'm working on a project for Barnabas, what's it to ya?"

If she wanted to be pissy so could he. Carolyn shook her head sending her hair off her shoulders and out of her face. "I came to see if you wanted to go into town maybe to the Blue Whale and get a drink."

She pouted so pretty with those lips and he remembered how good those lips tasted when he was covering them with kisses. "Well I can't, Barnabas wants this done before he gets back and I ain't gonna be on his bad side because I did not get it done."

Carolyn frowned and huffed past him again barely controlling her irritation. It was bad enough she had gotten drunk and slept with him, and now when she wanted some company he or Jeff were not available. As a matter of fact Jeff was cuddled up with some other blond bimbo at Lookout Point. "Fine, see ya around." She snapped out of the door grabbing it behind her and slamming it hard. Willie was half glad she was gone, this was going to be a bit of a problem what with him having taken her on the golden pony ride and now she wanted him and his pony and he was not always free to be available for her whims or desires. He shuffled into the drawing room and was brought up short. A figure stood with her back to him, staring up at the portrait of Barnabas hanging on the wall. He could smell her perfume and see she was not really a solid person; she was more transparent while she stood looking up to the portrait.

"Willie Loomis." She turned and he was taken aback. She had never appeared to him before now, and here she was.

"Yeah?" He was confused and a little afraid. Not afraid like when he was with Barnabas but afraid like when Jason threatened him. So now he knew various degrees of fear he could compare them with what he was experiencing in the new situations surrounding him.

Josette studied the young man and saw why Carolyn found him attractive. He was cute in a common sort of way. "You must protect Victoria Winters. You must not allow Barnabas to go through with the plans he has. Vicki will remember everything from the past and trust me once she does she will avoid Barnabas. He is wanting to change her to me."

Willie began to pace back and forth, his concerns and fears for Vicki were a different fear and it was embellished with something he thought he knew nothing about and that was compassion. He figured he had learned that when Maggie was there. "But Miss Josette, you now I can't go against him. He has some kind of hold over me and well he knows things that I am thinkin! I don want him to hurt Miss Vicki any more than you do. But there ain't nothin I can do about it!"

Josette drifted about the room in her long wedding gown and looked Willie over, "Willie you must convince him that he loves her for who she is and not because he is seeking to replace me with her." Willie sighed and slumped down in the chair and thought if he had any more interruptions he would be in deep shit with Barnabas for sure. But another part of him did not want to see Vicki hurt by Barnabas.

"You need to take her away and hide her from Barnabas. The minute she remembers what happened to him in the past she will be in grave danger."

Willie jumped up and began to pace again, waving his arms about in anxiety and trying to be expressive about how deeply he felt on this subject. "Looksee Josette, Vicki is so nice and she didn't hurt no one ever and no one should hurt her, and I really think Barnabas is beginning to like her for who she is. But, just like with Maggie, I couldn't save her, how do ya expect me to save Vicki?"

Josette drifted back to stand near Willie, "Then you will watch him turn her into what he is and that you will have on your head Willie Loomis, because you know there was something you could have done."

Josette drifted towards the corner of the room and passed through the wall disappearing as she went. Willie turned his eyes wide, his bottom lip quivering and he buried his face in his hands. She was right and he did not want to see her hurt. He had to find his balls and do something about this now. Not tonight but maybe tomorrow. Yeah he could try and resolve this while Barnabas slept. He just needed someplace he could hold her until he knew what he should do.

Collinwood

Vicki walked down the stairs and stood on the bottom step hearing the voices in the drawing room. She stepped to the door and for a moment she felt she was back in time and that Millicent, Reverend Trask and the original Barnabas were sitting in the drawing room. It was that moment relived that something niggled at the back of her mind, something she knew but forgot she knew it and it was almost there for her to touch. It was nothing tangible but tucked in the deepest part of her mind, something she had put on hold in a pique of denial. Barnabas smiled and looked up as Vicki entered the door. "My dear you look lovely and may I say after seeing you well worth the wait."

Trask frowned, she did look lovely and he was glad she was finally down here so they could go. "Well shall we go? I will drive us to the Blue Whale."

Vicki turned and smiled seeing Carolyn still in her unbuttoned coat. "You coming too Carolyn?" Carolyn was still feeling the affects of the first large brandy she had drank and was ready to dance and drink some more.

"Yes, is there a problem with it?" Vicki's smile tightened noting that Carolyn was a bit tipsy.

"Not in the least Carolyn, I am glad you are joining us. Shall we go?" She turned and walked to the entryway and lifted her coat from the hook and felt a pair of hands take the coat. Thinking it was Barnabas she turned with an appreciative smile and realized it was Gregory Trask helping her with the coat. Her smile froze and she said more stiffly than she had intended, "Thank you Mr. Trask."

He smiled charmingly and said softly, "I would appreciate it if you would call me Greg. That is my name too."

Vicki nodded stiffly and smiled, "Very well Greg." She stepped back to allow him to get the door and walked out to the car parked under the porte conchere. Stepping to the rear passenger seat side, Barnabas was there before Trask to open the door for her and then open the door for Carolyn on the passenger side front seat. Trask may have beaten him to helping Vicki with her coat but he would be damned if Trask would dictate where she would sit in his car for the ride to town.

Carolyn turned with a bright thankful smile, "Thank you Barnabas." Tucking her coat around her hips she slid in and waited for Barnabas to close her door. Trask had noted how Barnabas had manipulated and maneuvered Vicki to the back seat. He even noted Barnabas had opted to ride in the back seat with her leaving the spoiled Carolyn as his front seat companion. He would have the next advantage, because he had decided where they would sit at the Blue Whale and he would be beside both women.

Blue Whale

The conversation was kept light and on generalities during the drive to Collinsport which was done in quick order. Pulling the large comfortable luxury car into the parking lot near the Blue Whale, Gregory Trask slid out and began to open all the doors to his car, allowing Barnabas to exit behind him, and stepping around to open Vicki's door, helping her to the walkway, then Carolyn. They all noted the roll of thunder in the distance when they entered the Blue Whale, the wind had picked up as well. "Looks like we made it just in time." Carolyn remarked while entering the bar and watching Trask towards a small round table in the corner.

"I would have hoped that storm would have held off for a while longer." Trask noted that Carolyn was removing her coat and he trying to show he as a gentleman too was quick to help her. Turning to help Vicki he noted that Collins had beaten him to the draw. Tightening his smile he offered, "Drinks?"

Carolyn smiled, "I would like a black Russian."

Vicki looked around the room then back to Trask, "A Gingerale please."

Barnabas smiled, "Some cordial would be nice." Hearing Barnabas order a cordial she paused then shook her head. She would stay with her original choice of Gingerale. Carolyn was watching the younger crowd on the dance floor and she began to gyrate and bounce in her chair. One young man seeing her eagerness to jump up and dance reached over to pull her to the floor and Carolyn was up and bouncing all over the room, her hair flying and her laughter filling the room. Trask navigated around the active dancers on the floor and sat down.

"Bob said he would bring our drinks over." Vicki smiled watching the dancers and then turned to Trask, "So what did you wish to discuss about the night of the séance and my disappearance?"

Trask sat back and studied her. She did appear a little different. "I can assure you I do not recall everything about that night, I do know what I feel happened and that was I went back in time and I had a purpose to fulfill. I saw all the terrible things that can happen to people in that time and I met your great, great, grandfather Reverend Trask and he was one of the most disagreeable individuals I had the misfortune to meet."

Gregory was somewhat shocked by her frank assessment of his grandfather. "Really? From what I read he was a successful witch hunter and he made quiet a reputation for his abilities."

Vicki frowned, "I can assure you he was no gentleman and he did things that most men would be castrated for doing or locked up as a sexual predator with less than honorable intentions." Gregory was now intrigued, the family had hinted at a darker history than what had been written.

"Did you know he disappeared around the time of the arrest of one Miss Phyllis Wycke? I read where she found murdered later and they did suspect it was my Grandfather that was involved with that bit of nasty business."

Vicki who had been enmeshed in the tragedies playing out in Collinwood did not realize he had disappeared probably around the time he had kidnapped her and was preparing to torture and rape her in the cellar of the old house. She was sad to hear that poor Phyllis had been murdered and looked down and began to speak with such tenderness when she spoke of Phyllis. "He shackled poor Phyllis, and we suspected she was tortured and left a broken woman. I know for a fact that Phyllis was no witch. She was an innocent young girl in love with the original Barnabas' Collins best friend Peter Bradford." Then as she thought of his grandfather her whole demeanor changed and the tenor of her voice became one of disgust and outrage, "I can tell you this much Mr. Trask, or Greg, he was a debauched, lascivious licentious man with lustful cravings for the women he purported as being witches. He abused his power and authority and he was determined to see me hanged, but had told me if I would consent to be his mistress he would forget the charges of witchcraft against me."

Greg wondered was he supposed to be ashamed he was a Trask because of his grandfather? A part of him secretly respected and admired his grandfather and his tenacity and his drive to get what he wanted and if he had wanted Vicki, more power to him. Trask could easily see why he would have been attracted to Victoria Winters, he certainly found her fascinating and very desirable in an innocent virginal way. "I see so you want me to believe that some how you traveled back in time to the late 1700's met our ancestors, stopped time at Collinwood trapping all of us there while you lived out your life for several weeks?"

Vicki sat back watching Bob carry the tray of drinks to the table and smiled her appreciation. "Thank you Bob." Lifting her drink she sipped slowly, set the drink down while Bob set down the other drinks, "As a matter of fact Greg, I really don't care what you believe, this much I do know I lived it and it was frightening." Vicki's glance shifted as the pressure in the room changed and a brisk breeze blew through the door. Vicki reached for Barnabas' hand and squeezed; her face went pale. Carolyn who had been jumping about and gyrating to the music stopped and the whole room became mesmerized watching Maggie Evans walk in confused, dazed and soaked to the bone. To Vicki she looked like she had just been dredged up from the ocean.

Barnabas turned to see what was causing the reaction in the room along with Trask and Vicki stood, "Its Maggie Evans! Its Maggie Evans!"

Maggie walked into the room, looking around and stepped to the table occupied by Vicki, Barnabas, and Trask, looking at Trask then to Barnabas she began to mumble, 'Oh no! Oh no!" She then turned and collapsed on the floor in a dead faint.

Vicki rushed to her side and began to speak to her softly, "Maggie? Maggie, wake up it is Vicki, wake up Maggie." Trask bent to lift the girl up in his arms and sat back holding heron his lap with her head laid against his shoulder.

"I thought she was dead."

Barnabas frowned and looked sicken by the arrival of someone he thought had died. "We all are apparently the victim of a horrible hoax."

Trask looked around and then back to Vicki, "Perhaps they were mistaken?"

Vicki shook her head. "No, that is not possible, her father found her on the beach and took her to the hospital and then she was supposed to have died from shock."

Carolyn walked to the table and looked around the room. "Hey everybody go on about your business."

Barnabas looked around. "Where is her father is he not usually here this time of the day?"

Carolyn nodded, "Yes, and I suppose I should go get him and Joe. Greg may I use your car?"

Greg nodded to his keys on the table and Carolyn reached for them. Maggie began to moan and Vicki shifted to knell down in front of her. "Maggie, its Vicki, do you remember me?"

Maggie's eyes fluttered and she opened her eyes and looked up at Vicki and smiled, "I know you, we were friends right?"

Vicki nodded," Yes, we were close friends. Carolyn is going to get your father."

Maggie frowned, "My father, I can almost see him, he paints by a large window in a small cottage by the sea."

Vicki spoke softly and encouragingly, "Yes, his name is . . . "

Maggie sat up and looked excited, "Sam, his name is Sam Evans!"

Vicki nodded, "Yes, it is." Barnabas frowned, "Should we not send her to the hospital to get checked out and then perhaps we can find out what happened to her?"

George Patterson walked through the door shaking out the poncho he had thrown on when he got the call of a disturbance at the Blue Whale. Entering the room he stopped and paled, there was Maggie Evans. He and Sam had worked so hard to keep her hidden and the town believing that she had died. Now here she was in the one main public area that was the second hub of the passing of information for public consumption. The only other place was where Maggie had worked that the gossip mill had been so prevalent. Now before the night was over, the whole town would know she was alive and back in Collinsport and in danger from who ever had taken her. Walking over to Trask he spoke abruptly, "Where did she come from?"

Vicki glanced up to the sheriff and smiled, "She just walked in here and then passed out. We sent Carolyn to get Joe and her father."

George looked to Trask, "Would you bring her out to my car so I can take her over to the hospital we need to have her checked out."

Barnabas stood and grabbed Vicki's coat. "Vicki I feel you should stay with Maggie, while I go and inform the family of the good news."

Vicki frowned not like being left alone with Trask she took small solace in the fact that she would be with the sheriff. To further comfort her, she did remind herself she would not be alone with Trask on the ride home; Carolyn would be with them. "All right, how will you get home?"

She looked concerned knowing that Barnabas would have to brave the weather and try to get home safely. "I shall take a cab, do not worry about me, just get Miss Evans attended and I shall see you tomorrow." Vicki nodded and could not curb her feeling of disappointment. She turned to follow them out to the car and slid into the back seat with Maggie, while Trask joined George in the front seat. The wind was whipping the rain against the car's windshield and George was dreading the drive to the Collinsport Hospital.

He knew as soon as he got there he would be getting phone calls about wash outs, alarms, and accidents. "I hate nights like tonight, we always have the crazies come out on full moons and rainy nights. People forget how to drive in storms like this."

Trask chuckled, "I like these nights, it means good business for me, I usually get calls to bond people out of jail."

George shot a cold look at Trask, "I suppose you would." The rest of the trip to the hospital was done in silence from all parties. While silence surrounded them Vicki noted that those in the car were mulling over the strange events that had led them to this point in their lives. For Vicki it was Trask made her uncomfortable and did not like sharing any space with him. Trask was so like his grandfather in resemblance that just being this close caused her stomach to knot.

For Maggie it was the feeling; a rush of feelings run through her recalling the dour faced man with soulful brown eyes and something about him had frightened her. She knew deep down it was not an unreasonable fear, it was too strongly attached to her being to allow it to be anything other than what it was an it was the terror of dying when she saw him.

As for George Patterson; it was really simple. He did not like lawyers and especially this one. The grated on his last nerve and they all thought they were smarter than everyone else. He supposed it was the arrogance they exuded.

The only one happy with the situation was the lawyer Trask. Trask was the only one having a good time on this ride to the hospital in squad car. He had Vicki on captive custody and this appeared to make him smile. She was after all locked in the back seat of this squad car and if the car was equipped like most the only way she or Miss Evans could get out was if someone opened the door for them.

Barnabas waited for them to leave. Watching them pull from the parking lot, he slipped into the driving rain and the wind buffeting his coat around his body shifting to mist form and was drifting through the town headed to Collinwood and more specifically to the old house.

Old House

Appearing on the front porch of his house, he reformed to his human form and opened the door. Stepping in with a rush from the wind he shouted, "WILLIE! WILLIE!"

Willie had finished his job and had gone to the kitchen to fix his soup when he heard Barnabas bellow for him. "Shit he found out about Josette coming and now he is going to beat the living hell out of me." Willie was afraid as he muttered under his breath. Willie threw the can of soup into the sink, shut off the stove and walked sluggishly down the hallway to the drawing room. Barnabas had shed his soaking wet coat and now stood before the fireplace. "Yeah Barnabas?"

Barnabas turned and glared at the man that seemed to irritate him as much as Trask or Bradford. "I need you to go into town and then to the hospital. Maggie Evans showed up at the Blue Whale tonight and I want to make sure she does not remember anything about me. If she does I want you to contact me right away and allow me to take care of this how I should have when she escaped from here."

Willie's lower lip trembled, "Come on Barnabas don hert her, she ain't gonna remember being here."

Barnabas turned and smoothed his hands into his jacket and growled, "She recognized me tonight, I saw it in her eyes. If she speaks it will be over for both of us. So get to the hospital and let me know what you find out."

Willie was at least grateful he would not get a beating this night. Maybe it was because Barnabas was in a good mood, kind of not. "All right, I am going."

Barnabas glared at the boy backing away from him and turned to get his coat and head out into the driving rainstorm. "Why do things have to be so complicated? Why does it always seem to be storming here." Willie muttered all the way down the steps and to his truck.

He paced the drawing room floor he thought about the look Maggie had given him when she glanced at him tonight. It had been one of dawning recognition. A knock on the door alerted him to the arrival of a visitor and he was in no mood for visitors. Going to the door he opened it to look into the curious and rather triumphant face of one Julia Hoffman. "Hello Mr. Collins may I come in?" Barnabas did not want her to come in but was obliged by convention and good manners to open the door and allow her entry to his home. Julia entered and took her coat off, "Nasty night isn't it?" She walked into the drawing room then turned dramatically to face Barnabas, "You Mr. Collins are a vampire, and to deny it would be futile, I was here this morning and saw you in your coffin."

This was so unexpected that for a moment Barnabas was stricken with silence. "Madam you are mistaken or mad."

Julia smiled sitting on the chair by the fireplace, "I think I am quite sane and I am the solution to your problem. I am not a Miss Hoffman, just as Eric Lang is not only a doctor but also a specific type of doctor and we share the same field of interest. We believe we could cure you of your affliction. Are you interested or did I waste my time coming here?"

Barnabas turned and paced to the window and peered out. "Suppose you were right and I was interested what can you do to prevent my current situation being exposed?"

Julia was curious, "What do you mean?"

Barnabas turned and stared at her, "Maggie Evans."

Julia smiled, "Yes, Maggie, my patient safely tucked away in my sanitarium over a hundred miles away."

It was Barnabas' turn to smile, "No dear Doctor Hoffman she is not tucked away in your sanitarium, she is currently at the Collinsport Hospital and if I judge her memory she is about to tell them about being held by me here for over six weeks."

Julia stood and walked to the door, "Leave this to me, I shall be back tomorrow with Doctor Lang and we shall tell you what we both perceive. And how we both think we can cure you of this affliction."


	3. Chapter3

Chapter 3

Collinsport Hospital

Maggie sat quietly in Dave Woodard's office; she glanced around the room and then to the woman that was very familiar to her. "I know you don't I?'

Vicki nodded and smiled encouragingly. "Yes, we are friends. You were the first person I met when I came to Collinsport. As a matter of fact you know most of us that were with you at the Blue Whale, Carolyn Stoddard, Barnabas Collins, but I don't think you had met Gregory Trask, he is a new attorney that has come to Collinsport."

Maggie nodded and frowned, "There was a little girl with me. Did you find her?"

Vicki shook her head. "No, Maggie there was no little girl to be found. We are looking for your father and Joe Haskell."

Maggie got a far away look in her eyes and a soft sad smile played over her lips. "My father, his name is Sam Evans, he is an artist?" She looked for confirmation from Vicki.

Vicki nodded, "Yes, he is a very good artist and his name is Sam, he found you on the beach and brought you to this hospital and then we were told you died."

Maggie frowned, "Died, but I did not die, I was far away, very far away." Her voice had grown as distant as the words she had just spoken. She looked down at her hands in her lap and sighed again.

Vicki spoke softly, "Maggie do you know where you were before you went far away?"

Maggie shifted in her chair and then took her fingertips and began to jab them to her temples. "I think I was, . . . There was something about a house with a special room, and music, tinkling music and a man, a man with dark brooding eyes and he is not a man, he is . . . "

The door opened and Julia Hoffman stepped into the room. "Say nothing else Maggie," Julia turned to look at Vicki, "Will you excuse us for a moment Vicki, I need to speak with Maggie, she has been my patient for some time and I do not want to risk a relapse should she suddenly find she is remembering everything and it cascades in on her."

Vicki stood with reluctance looking from Maggie to Julia with concern she nodded to Julia, "Of course." Turning to Maggie she reached over and patted her hand gently, "I will be outside if you need me Maggie."

Maggie smiled her appreciation and watched her leave the room. Maggie jumped up, "Dr. Hoffman! I remember it all, I remember that it was Barnabas Collins that held me captive in a room and he wanted me to die, he wanted me to become something that is not human just like him. He is a horrible creature a monster that lives on the blood of others!"

Julia reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a jeweled pin, taking the pin she smiled and spoke soothingly, "Maggie, you need to calm down and we will start from the beginning, now sit down and looked at the broach, its an old family heirloom, isn't it beautiful?" Maggie distracted began to focus on the broach as the facets caught the light and reflected about and refracted into a shimmering haze of several colors and she suddenly was hearing Julia's voice encouraging her to watch the broach and the jewels and listen to her voice. How Julia ordered her to close her eyes and to sleep and listen. Maggie followed Julia's instructions as she was placed into a deep hypnotic state. "That is right Maggie, now, we will begin with the time you were taken by Barnabas Collins, you will not remember anything about that time, or the time you were being held in his house. Do you understand?"

Maggie nodded, "I will remember nothing about the time I spent with Barnabas Collins in the Old House."

Julia leaned her hips to the front of Dave's desk, "Very good, you will not remember anything that happened to you from the time you disappeared and was with Barnabas Collins. That time was as far as you are concerned a mystery. As a matter of fact you will remember that Barnabas was kind to you and your father. You will remember everything that was a part of your life up until that time you were taken, you will remember walking here from Wyndcliff but you will remember nothing of that time in the old house."

Maggie nodded again and spoke softly, "I will remember nothing about the time I was missing, and it is a mystery to me. That Barnabas Collins has been kind to me and my father."

Julia tucked her broach away and folded her arms over her chest and smiled, "Very good Maggie, now when I snap my fingers you will awaken feel refresh and have all your prior memories restored but for the ones that we agreed you would forget."

Maggie nodded slowly, and waited while Julia counted "One, two, three."

Then Julia snapped her fingers, carefully watching Maggie. Maggie opened her eyes blinked and then smiled, "I remember it all Julia, my father, Joe, Vicki, you, Dr. Woodard. I remember everything."

Julia smiled, "Good, hold on let me get Dave for you Maggie." Dave Woodard stood expectantly in the reception room of his office and waited.

"Dave, come in." Dave rushed in to see an excited and ecstatic Maggie.

"Maggie!"

Maggie laughed and hugged him "Dr. Woodard I remember everything! I remember you and my father, Joe and Dr. Hoffman, Vicki everything."

Dave smiled, "Great now can you tell us where you were while you were gone?"

Maggie's smile faded and she sighed and sat heavily in her chair. "No, I was hoping you could tell me. I can't remember anything except waking up from Wyndcliff and coming here to the Blue Whale."

Dave's smile faded and he turned with an look of confusion and expectation to Julia, "I thought she was on the brink of having her full memories back Julia?"

Julia shrugged, "Dave, it still must be such a severe trauma that she has blocked it from her memory. We are fortunate to have back as much of her memory as we do have."

Dave rubbed a frustrated his hand over his neck and head. "Well we have her back and that Maggie is pretty good as far as I am concerned."

Maggie looked around the room then back to Dave. "Where is my father? Joe?" Dave opened the door and motioned George into the room and took him to the side to explain what had happened with Maggie's memory.

While the two men spoke softly in the corner, the door opened and Sam Evans followed by Joe Haskell burst into the room. "Maggie! Oh my darling Maggie! You are back with us!" Sam Evans enveloped his daughter into a huge hug and kissed her forehead. "Darling, we were told you got your memory back?"

Maggie sighed and looked lovingly with a hint of an apology to her fiancé, Joe, "Not all of it Poppa, I can't remember what happened to me while I was missing, I only remember up to getting sick and that is it."

Joe frowned deeply listening to Maggie explain she had only regained a portion of her memory. Stepping over to put a protective arm around her shoulders. He smiled encouragingly and spoke with sincere tenderness against Maggie's ear. "Well what is important is that we have you back." Joe bent and placed a light kiss on her nose.

Collinwood

Julia pulled the rented car under the porte conchere and turned the ignition switch to off. Leaning back she narrowed her eyes, and began to ponder what had happened. She had lied to Dave, her dear friend and old love interest from college, she had been unethical with her use of her abilities to use hypnosis, and for what? She was taking a chance because did not have a guarantee from Mr. Collins that he would be willing to cooperate with her and Eric.

Eric had agreed to allow her to use her serum first before they used the more extreme way of trying to cure the disease that plagued Barnabas Collins. If her feeling on this was correct she wondered if he had converted any others and if they would be potential candidates for her treatment. Opening her car door, she slid out and closed the door and walked to the front door when she heard footsteps on rocks. Pivoting on the balls of her feet she turned and looked at one of the most alluring men she had seen, he had to be a good six foot four inches tall, wide shoulders, strong jawline and piercing blue eyes with a devil may care smile that etched his face.

Julia offered up a ready smile. "Hello?"

His deep voice held a hint of a flirt to it. She studied the man that approached her and towered over her. "Hello, are you a Collins?"

Julia laughed, "No, just a guest. And you are?" She turned to the front door and he smiled, the smile spreading with a devil may care attitude and oozing charismatic charm.

"I am a on the other hand a Collins, coming home to meet the family."

Julia opened the door and stepped in followed by the very well dressed and decidedly handsome man with stylish mutton chop side burns and those bedroom eyes. Julia shook her head she had to quit thinking off track and waited for him to enter the foyer. "I will be happy to get Mrs. Stoddard for you."

The man smiled, "Stoddard? I thought this was Collinwood?"

Julia nodded and stepped over to the closed doors and knocked lightly, "It is, and that would be Elizabeth Collins Stoddard."

A soft female voice called, "Come in."

Julia opened the door and stood back, "Elizabeth, I have a guest that says he is family."

Liz uncrossed her ankles and stood, laying her magazine down and walking to the double doors and her eyes lit up with a delightful smile. "Why it's Quentin Collins or are you his son?"

The man's smile widen, "Why yes I am his son, I am Quentin Collins the Fourth home for a renewal visit."

Elizabeth stepped forward to take his hand her manner one of school girlish delight, "I was all of eighteen when I met your father, and it is amazing you look so much like him. I could have sworn you were he when you walked into the room. Down to the side burns, mutton chops? Did they not go out of fashion a few years ago?"

Quentin laughed and sighed, "Well I got a wild hair and decided to try them out." He looked around the drawing room then smiled charmingly to Elizabeth "I was wondering and was hoping I could stay here and maybe find a razor I could stand closer to and get rid of them?"

Liz was flushed with excitement leading him into the drawing room. "Of course you may stay here, oh and we have another cousin from England that arrived a few months ago. Cousin Barnabas and he renovated the Old House. I can't wait for the two of you to meet!" Liz walked to the sideboard liquor cabinet and pulled out the bandy, "Drink or are you not like your father?"

Quentin stepped further into the room with a feel and look of familiarity to the room and himself. "No actually I like whiskey not brandy."

Liz smiled and turned to pull out the whiskey and poured him a shot. "Do you require it on the rocks or with a chaser?"

Quentin shook his head. "No, this is fine. The Collins hospitality according to my father was the best on the Maine Coast and I see he did not lie." He took the glass looked at its color swirled it around in the glass and sipped then smiled, "It is as father described it. The best of everything for the Collins family."

Elizabeth poured herself a small cordial and looked towards with an expectant look Julia, "I would just prefer some tea and I see that Mrs. Johnson has already brought the tea in, so I will make myself at home."

Liz nodded her approval to do so and walked to the nearest wingback chair seating herself.. "Be my guest Julia." Julia sat and poured herself a cup of tea and studied the handsome man, he was tall, dark haired, devil may care attitude and very handsome, he had an air of old world about him. She narrowed her eyes studying the handsome young man and kept her thoughts to herself.

"So, Elizabeth, do tell me about this cousin Barnabas." He sipped his drink turning to sit in front of the fireplace on the bench.

Liz smiled sat back and sighed, "He is charming, very old fashion and very much a true gentleman as all Collins males should be. I think he has taken an interest in our Vicki."

Quentin turned quirked a questioning brow. "Your Vicki, in what way? Is she your daughter? A Collins?"

Liz smiled and looked down at the drink cupped in her hand. "Well actually our Vicki is Victoria Winters, our governess and someone we consider a member of the family."

Quentin smiled, looked at the drink in his hand and murmured, "Perhaps I should make her acquaintance." Quentin's meaning held a double one while he looked at the purity of the drink in the glass. The sound of the front door opening had the occupants of the drawing room peering over to the entrance.

Staggering slightly, laughing loudly and still the very vivacious Carolyn dramatically made her entrance into the room. "Oh I can't wait to tell mother and Uncle Roger, Vicki this is the absolute best news ever. You cannot imagine how shocked we all were and there she was!" Carolyn slung her coat off and threw it on the foyer table. Vicki walked in at a more sedate pace, reaching for Carolyn's coat to hang it up. After taking care of Carolyn's coat; Vicki slipped her coat off and hung it up then noticed that Carolyn had realized that the drawing room doors were open and there were people in the drawing room.

Carolyn looked up and saw the handsome tall man in the drawing room with her mother and Julia. Like a radar for gorgeous men and knowing she had his attention, she smiled brightly. Turning to her mother she enthused. "Oh Mother, guess what! " She breezed into the room and smiled at the stranger with the piercing blue eyes and the smirk that almost made it to a smile on his handsome face. "Guess who just walked into the Blue Whale tonight in true Collinsport Fashion?"

Vicki walked more sedately behind Carolyn and leaned against the doorway's frame. This was Carolyn's stage to perform and she was not about to take the thunder from her. Liz glanced up to her daughter smiled with adoring eyes of a mother glanced to Quentin and said softly, "My daughter Carolyn, Carolyn this is your cousin Quentin Collins."

Quentin stood up and walked over to peer down at the petite blond with a seductive gleam in his eyes and a smile that captured Carolyn's attention and sent her heart fluttering. "Miss Stoddard, I am pleased to meet you." He reached for her hand and drew it to his lips and kissed it, but his eye traced over Carolyn's head to the attractive and innocently sweet brunette standing quietly in the doorway and was immediately drawn to those eyes. Those eyes that held a hint of the past and pain that was recently experienced. Feeling the tension in the hand he held he realized that he had been busted watching Vicki over her head.

"Quentin's father was here when I was a young girl about your age my dear, he left us and then tonight when his son Quentin the fourth showed up, I thought he had returned as his father. You cannot imagine how much they look alike."

Carolyn was a bit put out by the apparent distraction he had towards Vicki and turned to glare at the girl in the doorway. Sensing that she had caused Carolyn's displeasure Vicki quietly withdrew from the room and headed up the stairs to her room. She was tired but elated that Maggie had not died and was now back. She wanted to find out all she could but knew that she needed time with her family and Joe.

Quentin watched her withdraw from the room and hid his disappointment behind a well-rehearsed and easily replaced attention towards the perky blond. Once Carolyn had Quentin's attention back and the removal of Vicki from the room, she remembered her exciting news. "Mother! Maggie Evans is not dead! She showed up at the Blue Whale tonight. She has been in some sanitarium for the past six weeks!"

Liz was surprised by the news she had just received from Carolyn, "Well that is good news. I am sure Mr. Evans is thrilled to have his daughter back and that she is alive and apparently well. I know it must have been a very happy occasion for Vicki to because they were such close friends." Liz looked to the door to see Vicki had left and frowned, "Where did Vicki go?"

Carolyn was too annoyed to be sorry she was the reason Vicki left the room; She flounced over to the sofa and bounced down next to her mother. "Does anyone really care? She said she was tired and probably went to bed." Carolyn's tone was so callous it brought a dark and irritated look from her mother.

"Carolyn you should remember your manners, " That was all Elizabeth was going to say in front of company. She turned back to Carolyn and Quentin listening to their discussion.

Quentin sat on the edge of the fireside bench and thought a moment. "You know I saw something very odd earlier this evening when I was getting reacquainted with Collinsport again. The pathway that leads to the docks and the Blue Whale there was this very attractive red haired young lady with a little girl leading her to the Blue Whale. Do you suppose that was this Maggie you speak of?"

Carolyn perked up immediately, "You know when she got to the Blue Whale she kept saying she was with a little girl and wanted to see her, and when someone went to look for the little girl, no one could find her."

Quentin smiled, "Most curious in deed. One would think that she was a ghost, one of Collinwood's favorite." Quentin lifted his drink and finished his drink, "Well I left my bags at the Collinsport Inn, I would hope maybe you pretty lady could drive me into town to pick them up and may I have my father's old room. He told me so much about it and since his death, I well would like to feel close to him again." Quentin affected the appropriate look of having lost a dear loved one.

Carolyn spun around excited and thrilled she would be in a car alone with one of the most fascinating men she had met in a very long time. Walking to the foyer, she lifted her purse and pulled out the keys to her car and smiled over at Quentin. "Come on Cousin Quentin, I will be happy to take you to town and help you pick up your things."

Quentin turned to Liz, lifted her hand kissed it and then bowed to Julia and walked towards Carolyn as if he had not one care in the world after dropping the bomb his father was dead. Julia smiled watching Carolyn and Quentin leave through the front door. "Fascinating young man." Elizabeth had noticed that Julia had grown quiet and thoughtful during the conversation about Maggie. She decided it was because Julia had not known Maggie and politely listened without comment.

Liz nodded, "I never knew his father had died, I really like him, he reminds me so much of his father in attitude and looks."

Julia sat back and studied the floor, another curious Collins to show up unexpectedly. That would be something she would look into later for now she had to concentrate on one particular Collins. Rising from the sofa, Julia tugged on her herringbone jacket. "Well Elizabeth I think I will be going to bed, I shall see you in the morning."

Vicki's Bedroom

Vicki walked into her bedroom and noticed her light switch was not working. Sighing she mumbled, "I was going to replace that bulb." Turning to open the door wider to allow the light into the room, she walked to the foot of her bed and felt the sudden whoosh of the door slamming shut and locking behind her. Spinning around she gasped seeing the outline of a figure in the doorway. "Hello?'

She stepped back and then heard a voice she had not heard in a very long time. "Hello Victoria, how are you my dear?"

Vicki stepped back, "Trask?" She gasped and pressed her back against the dresser of her room. 

"Yes, although the last time we were together you were a captive audience and I was alive. Why I have come back to you tonight is to warn you of a war that is coming and unfortunately you will be part of that war and you will suffer from the fall out of the war. I assure you Victoria, I was not an honorable man in life but I have had nearly two hundred years to think over my life and you were right, I was filled with lust and want and I paid a high price for my actions. I will tell you this much; you are in danger Victoria. There is evil and a true witch in this town and she will be the downfall of Collinwood. You must be on your guard."

Vicki watched in shock and disbelief him fade from view. With the disappearance of Trask's spirit, Vicki jumped when the lights in her room came on. Slumping to her bed she sat heavily on its edge and looked around the room. "But there are no such things as witches, at least that is what I thought." She began to recall things that had happened in the past that were very much alike to what was happening in Collinwood and she shivered, was the witch causing the attacks on the docks? She shook her head and then sighed deeply, she was tired very tired and tonight had been an awakening.

The return of Maggie Evans, the appearance of a new Collins Family Member, and now Trask giving her a warning and trying to repent for his actions. It almost seemed that there was a gathering and the Collins Family were coming together to be here for something monumental about to unfold on them. She wished she had Barnabas here to tell him of what happened, but then again there had been something about this Barnabas that had reminded her of the other Barnabas of so long ago. What was it that Millicent had said? That he was not dead and it was a secret, one that she had to keep and begged Vicki to keep. She stretched out across her bed, reaching for her pillow she cradled her chin to the pillow and hugged the pillow close to her body. They had the same kind of attacks in the late 1700's that were happening here in this time. Then there was talk of a monster that drank blood and was stalking the town and the streetwalkers. Vicki rolled onto her back and began to think about how things in the past were mirroring things in the present and this made her pause. If the old Barnabas had gone to England then he could not be involved with all these incidents past or present.

Then there was Phyllis Wycke's male friend that had lived in the past, Peter Bradford, but in this day and age there was a man that looked like him and he was called Jeff Clark. Vicki shook her head. This was giving her a head ache and she knew she needed to tell someone of Trask's appearance but felt everyone in the house had gone to sleep and she certainly was not going to wake them up and think her mad because she was speaking of a dead man that lived almost two hundred years ago.

This was something that she would discuss with Barnabas. She would go to the old house first thing in the morning and hope to catch him before he went off on one of his many business trips. Rolling off the bed she snagged her gown. Walking down the hallway she walked down the bathroom, opening the unlocked door she stopped and froze blushing a deep scarlet seeing a nude and very unabashed Quentin Collins stepping from the shower. "Well hello there my dark beauty, would you like to help me conserve water and join me in my shower?'

Vicki stepped out and slammed the door shut and ran down the hallway back to her room, opening the door she rushed in and closed the door and locked it securely behind her. Never in all of her twenty-two years had she ever seen a naked man and tonight she had her first experience and now she felt she was scarred for life. A soft knock at the door and his voice called to her through the door, "The bathroom is empty now Miss Winters, you are welcome to use it or you could always join me in my room. I am sure we could discuss the first thing that pops up between us."

He chuckled at his off colored humor. Vicki spoke and her voice was strangled, "No thank you Mr. Collins, I shall pass on your kind offer, good night to you." The man was incorrigible and a rake. Never would she be able to forget him in his all together and a striking figure he had made as he with out any shame stepped fully out of the shower all wet and the room filled with steam he smiled that rakish grin and even had the audacity to wink at her looking shock and embarrassed.

Even now she could hear that laughter of his with his movement down the hallway. A soft call back for her ears he said, "It is your loss."

Then he was gone from her hallway. Vicki moaned and buried her face into her pillow and spoke softly, "Not really."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lookout Point near Logansport

Peter Bradford known as Jeff Clark in this time, stood at the edge of Lookout Point, his thoughts were caught in the past and his hatred for Barnabas Collins and Angelique Bouchard was renewed with such a vengeance that it was almost palatable. He knew and reasoned that Barnabas had killed Phyllis, as revenge for what he had done to his precious Josette, and no matter what Angelique, that bitch said, it was Barnabas that had drained her life's blood and left her pale and bloodless on the beach that night. All that mattered to him at this time was he had spent a lifetime trying to find someone to fill that void to give him what Phyllis had given him those many years ago. Even now he could vividly recall exactly what Phyllis had given to him. He could call to mind her sweetness, her tenderness and most especially her innocence that was all her own.

That was almost two hundred years ago and in that two hundred years it was the memory of her; that soft spectral image of Phyllis that had stood between him and his finding a true forever mate. Now he watched the moonless night bathe the area it its deceptive black velvet. He was possessed even more to either destroy Barnabas or make him hurt as bad as he did. His reasoning was now gone as he thought back to that night that Angelique had been the one pulling the strings to make Barnabas end the life of his sweet Phyllis. Peter shifted in the surrounding darkness and glanced to the night sky, no stars were out this night. Nothing was there it was what he felt about his life, nothing of importance was there in his life, he thought about the life he could've had with Phyllis, a family, love, living and growing old and sharing grandchildren with his beloved.

Then he could have died with her at his side and together living in an afterlife that everyone knew was a heaven. In this he was in purgatory and he was damned to roam this earth, to seek a means to stop his cravings and to take lives or make more like him, which is what Angelique said her master wanted, he wanted hell on earth and was willing to bet on it with the two vampires that Angelique had made. Peter's upper lip snarled into a cruel twisted smile and his blue eyes searched with an uncanny clarity that was a part of his new life style the beach below.

There a lonely figure strolled along the surf and from where he stood he could hear she was crying, so she was alone, vulnerable, and most of all his meal for the night. Shifting to mist form he floated down to the dark isolated beach area within a few feet in front of the forlorn figure. Her hair was long and blowing in the continual surf's breeze, she was wading in the roll of the waves that now washed upon the beach. Stepping out from the darkness he stopped and watched her amble along the beach, swiping at the occasional tears that bathed her face, which was still obscured by the hair that blew wildly in front of her face. "Hello my dear. Why are you crying?"

The girl gasped and turned away from him, her voice soft and chocked with the pain of her emotions. "I am sorry, I did not know anyone was here. I will leave you." Jeff was not about to let her go, she was way to convenient and his need to feed was way too pressing he acted with a quickness and grabbed her arm and pulled her close to his body, brushing her hair back she tried to cry out and then sank his teeth into her neck and drank deeply. He could feel her weakening to his need and then she was limp and now no more than a husk of what she had been. Turning her and brushing her hair back his eyes widen in a sickening revulsion that sent his world plummeting to a darkness that was now coming home to haunt him. The vision of the girl in his arms was a younger version of what would have been his Phyllis. From the hilltop he could hear her mocking laughter she stood and laughed that hideous annoying laugh that was uniquely Angelique.

Peter looked into the lifeless open eyes of the now dead girl and his anguished cry reacted off the surrounding rocks to come back to haunt him. Feeling is pain and anguish he clutched her body close to his and began to weep."NO, damn you Angelique! How long must you punish me? Why? Why her!"

Angelique appeared at his side and her words were soft and taunting, "Look again you silly fool. Look at the face of the girl you profess to love and would never harm. Look upon the face of the one you just took for your own need."

Peter collapsed to his knees on the ground and cradled the tiny body of the woman close and rocked back an forth on the beach with her, his moans of "No, no, no." was all he could say over and over in such a pain filled passion that it mingled with the mournful cry of the seagulls over head. Not wanting to look upon the face of the woman he could have loved and taken as his forever mate. He glared at the now mocking

Angelique while she continued to taunt and laugh at him. "You thought you loved her so much, you could not live without her, you imagined your life with her and you blamed Barnabas for taking her away the first time and look how easily I manipulated you to her and made you take her this time! Poor Peter, his forever love now lying dead and lifeless in his arms by his hands on a lonely stretch of beach that she laid on so long ago." Again that mocking laughter surrounded him, Angelique had pushed him too far and before she knew it he had dropped the body of the girl and had her in his hands and was tightening the grip around her neck and baring his teeth, from behind the deep voice of Nicholas Blair called out.

"Oh my dear Mr. Bradford, I would not do that if I were you. You might wish to release Angelique and refocus your anger in the direction you originally were thinking. It is the Collins family that deserves all that angst and anger."

Peter flung Angelique across the beach sending her to slam into the rocks that he had hidden behind earlier and then turned those cold glowing blue ice chips that were his eyes on Nicholas. "What did these Collins Family Members do to me? There is only one Collins that requires my attention and believe me I plan to seek his death and the end of his line with that death."

Nicholas frowned, his master did not want Barnabas dead he wanted him in his undead state to create more undead so that they could have an army of evil to over run the lands and set a new world for the return of their master to the upper world. "Now, now, now Mr. Bradford, we might want to rethink that idea. You can make him suffer by taking his love as your own, perhaps you should focus on the soon to be newly created Josette, bring her over and make him watch as she sits at your side and rules at your side."

Peter frowned, he knew it would be a cold day in their master's hell before he did what Angelique wanted or for that matter what their master wanted. But on the surface of the discussion he would pretend to go along with their plans. "Perhaps you are right, but I understand that the one he had hoped to make into Josette has returned to Collinsport, and he may have taken an interest in her again. Perhaps that is whom should receive my attention."

Angelique was feeling a rush of anger picking her self up and dusting off the sand. With a sense of purpose she moved towards Peter. "You will not bother anyone until I tell you who you shall bother. If you ever try that with me again, I will end your time on this earth for you. YOU will regret this action tonight."

Nicholas stepped between Angelique and Peter, "I believe my dear you already punished our dear boy by having him destroy the one thing he truly thought he would never have again, and now you wish to take it a step further? How much more do you think you can do to him? I think he is now at his saturation point."

Angelique spun around and glared at Nicholas and through clinched teeth spoke in a guttural tone, "He is at his saturation point when I say he is. If I choose to create more misery in his life, then so be it."

Peter stepped back, "You think you have won on this one Angelique, but you have done nothing but get an enemy for the rest of your natural life, I will live for the day I watch you fall and you will fall, you are not forever and you are not in control of me or my life, there is nothing more you can do to me than has already been done."

Shifting to mist form he drifted away from her leaving her with a fit of pique at loosing her quarry. Nicholas stepped around her and stood behind her and smiled, "Well, well, well my dear it seems you have pushed this one too far with that." He nodded to the lifeless body that was being drug into the surf and slowly drifting on the current out to sea.

Angelique shrugged her shoulders and then turned to watch the body disappear under the water to bob up like a cork bobber on the end of a fishing pole. "He has to learn it is me that he needs and it is me he will come to before this whole sordid mess is over, he needs to leave her dead and buried."

Nicholas clapped his hand and smiled that mocking smile an said in the most sarcastic tones he could muster, "But my dear Angelique how do you suppose you will bring him back to your bed or your life if you keep tormenting him over what he lost?"

Angelique smiled, "It is time we got invited to stay at Collinwood and into the Collins family, and then we shall see them fall one by one."

Nicholas laughed out right; and it was a hearty laugh filled with rancor and sarcasm, "I can not for the life of me see how you hope that by becoming a member of this family that you will see its downfall."

Angelique stepped away from him and called back over her shoulder, "You must wait and see how I arrange it dear brother, you must wait and see."

With those words left to float over her shoulder and in the wind she walked into the night disappearing in no time. Nicholas chuckled and shook his head, "You silly woman do you not realize that the curse you put on the Collins Family, that by becoming one you are once again a victim of your own devices?" Nicholas watched the body of the poor young woman drift out to sea and sighed, "Oh sad this day has been for Mr. Bradford, but I can use this to my own advantage and gain better favor with the master."

Nicholas sighed happily and ambled down the beach, soon disappearing into the darkness. The lone figure that stood on the beach watched him disappear and then he stepped forward and with a wave his hand the body of the poor deceased young woman appeared on the beach. "No my dear it is time for you to come back to us. I am thinking that we shall have a little fun with our Angelique and Nicholas and see which one will be the better and most devoted to me."

Diablos gestured his hand over the girls face. He smiled watching her eyes open, her face regained its color, and a smile edged her lips. "Did I do well master?"

He helped her stand and smiled, "Yes my dear you did wonderfully, now you may go find the young man that tried to destroy your life and bring him over to our way of thinking." She watched while her master kissed her hand and turning and fading from his view. He started to laugh, he knew that Angelique had never resolved her feelings for Barnabas or Peter Bradford and had made some monumental mistakes in the heat of her passionate anger and feeling scorned had allowed her own curse to backfire on her. He watched the area and he could feel the end of an era closing and a new beginning for him and his kind to travel the above world and to reek, as much havoc and mayhem as they wanted, and he knew it would begin with Collinsport and the Collins family. Turning he was feeling very proud of what he had accomplished at this point.

Eric Lang's lab

Julia sat at the lab table in Eric's lab, she felt uneasy around so many different containers of body parts that were being preserved in the clear fluid. "You know Julia, think about it, we are going to make history. The world does not even believe that vampires exist and we have one in our midst and we are going to be the ones to cure him of this age old disease he suffers."

Julia looked at the handsome man that had prematurely grayed before his time. "Remember Eric you will allow me to try my method first. If it is not successful, then we do it your way."

Eric leaned over and lightly kissed her lips. "As you wish my sweet Julia, as you wish. Just remember we have to make very careful and detailed notes on this and monitor his progress slowly as we bring him along."

Julia leaned over and made a note in her journal. "I realize that Eric, have you forgotten with whom you are dealing? I am not a first year grad student and if memory serves me correctly, I was top of my class and placed ahead of you."

Eric laughed and sighed, "And how I was so much in love with you at that time Julia, you were not only beautiful but you were smart and you were way ahead of those others that only could bottom feed from your crumbs."

Julia slid from the lab stool and smiled, "And here I thought I would never see you again, that what we had in college would be just a forgotten memory for you."

Eric sighed deeply, "My dear Julia how could I forget someone as brilliant and progressive as you? I was disappointed to hear you had locked yourself away at your father's sanitarium and thought you had given up on your theories."

Julia sighed deeply, stood and turned to put her arms around Eric smiling she laid her head on his shoulder, "Eric, I would never give up on something I felt so passionate for and then the world turned their back on me and my ideas and they shuttled me to the back of the line because I was a woman. From their perspective they did not think I knew what I was talking about because I was a woman. It seemed that my gender played a big part in my advancement in the field of theoretic research. They would readily accept you and then push me aside and give credit for the ideas I had to some other idiotic fool that could not follow through with his theories."

The tone of her voice said it all, she was bitter and she was very disappointed with where her career had gone after her post graduate studies were done. The only other male that held a high respect for her had taken his studies and now was living locally and teaching the studies of the occult at the local university. "Have you seen George since you moved back to the area?"

Eric thought a moment and nodded, "We ran into each other at the Emergency Room one day when his niece fell and broke her arm. Lovely young lady and very sad, lost both parents in an automobile accident and now she lives with George."

Julia smiled, "I rather admired George he was a progressive thinker too. I think once we begin this we should consider running some of our ideas past him to get his reaction and his thoughts."

Eric frowned, "I think that would be a horrible idea Julia, the less that know the more control we maintain over this whole situation."

Julia had not considered that thought and nodded, "I suppose you are right but we could always pose any problems we perceive as hypothetical and cultivate a relationship with George." Eric wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close putting his fingertips under her chin to lift it and smile, bending he captured her lips and kissed her lightly then felt her demand for more and made his intentions where he felt about Julia known with a deeper and more passionate kiss. Julia wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed into his body and returned the tenderness of the kiss. When they broke apart she smiled and asked softly, "Which room will you be sleeping in tonight?"

Eric smiled and looked around the lab and then back at her, "Well was hoping you would stay with me here tonight. I have a large and very lonely bed that would cry out for the two of us to share it."

Julia laughed and the laughter was deep and well modulated she smiled with a twinkle in her eyes and a flush to her face. "I would love to stay in your bed with you tonight."

Eric unbuttoned that tight fitting jacket and laid a feathery light kiss on her earlobe and then traced feathery light kisses down her neckline to the pulse of her throat. "Ever wonder what it would be like to be one of them? To have the heighted senses they have, the feel of immortality, the lust for something bigger than yourself?"

Julia felt his warm breath against her neck and the train of his thoughts frightened her. "Eric you are not considering trying it out and being a test subject are you?"

He laughed, "No Julia, quite to the contrary, I plan to end that kind of existence and if your serum does not prove fruitful then we shall bring out my ideas and make life from one soiled life. Oh what I would not give to have two subjects like Barnabas."

Again she felt the train of his thoughts was taking them down a far more dangerous path. "Eric stop it you are scaring me."

Eric laughed and spoke with the most reassuring tones he could manage. "My dearest Julia, I am merely conjecturing and thinking out loud my desires, my thoughts and I would hope you would understand that we with brilliant yet misunderstood minds do these things on occasions and choose to surround ourselves with others of like minds and appreciate the thoughts and would be willing to even bounce ideas off of one another."

He dropped his lips to her collarbone and smiled feathering more light kisses across her throat and the top of her breasts. "We as theorists do have a tendency of being isolated and feeling isolated."

Julia saw the logic of his argument and smiled, "Of course Eric, I do understand I just wanted to make sure it was merely ideas that you were speaking of and not actual thoughts of following through with them."

Eric turned with his hands on her arms guiding her towards the lab door. "Julia should I ever think of going beyond the steps of convention, you will be the first to hear my arguments for what I propose and I promise," He hugged her close bent to place a light kiss on the top of her nose, ". . . if I ever consider taking that step I shall listen to the one voice of reason that means the most to me. That being you."

Julia smiled and felt special he trusted her so it was time for her to begin trusting him. Turning into his hold she stepped with him into the house. "So what would you like to do for dinner tonight?"

Collinwood Quentin's room

Quentin Collins lay on his back in his bed stark naked and smiled. The look on the little mouse's face when she saw him coming out of the shower was priceless. He rather liked the way she blushed and then turned so upset and embarrassed that she ran from the room and him. He had been more used to women running after him and not away. He certainly wanted to take his time and get to know this one a little better. He wanted to get to know her along with this mysterious cousin Barnabas Collins. He has spent many years in London and had never run across a Barnabas Collins or for that matter had heard of a Barnabas Collins. He was certainly going to make it a point to get to know them both better before his stay was worn out.

Sighing softly, he rolled from the bed and slipped on his boxers and turned to the secret panel near the fireplace, reaching in he pulled out the large frame portrait and the covering slipped and he was once again reminded of the horrible life and the style of his living had brought about on the portrait. Looking at the old shriveled image of the man in the portrait covered in boils, scars with the skull sunken and the hands shriveled, he looked back at the eyes and saw they were the only things left on the portrait that remotely looked like him. Covering he slid it back it to its secure spot and closed the secret panel.

"Well another hundred years lets see how you look then?" He walked to flop on the bed and sighed, he was tried, and he was ready to sleep but a part of him felt unease over something and he was not sure what it was but one thing was sure, he was about to be involved in something with the Collins Family and this trip back here had been because he needed to be here at this time. Something was brewing and it had to do with Collinsport and Collinwood. He closed his eyes and thought back to the day he had become what he was and why he had lived over one hundred fifty years. There was but one name that kept coming back to haunt him and tighten his stomach with tension. That man was Count Petoffi, but this did not feel like Petofi's hand and he laughed at his small joke. No this went deeper, even far deeper than the Leviathans and their need to bring about the perfect god. No this was something darker and more sinister and somehow he knew it had to be tied to this mysterious cousin from England.

Closing his eyes he allowed his thoughts to fade to the night and the sleep he sorely needed, it felt as if it had been days since he last slept and this time he was going to sleep and worry about what was about to happen tomorrow. Tomorrow he would be clear headed and rested and then he would not be tempted to make the virginal governess blush over seeing him naked or tease her about a tryst. He might even be more circumspect and act as Elizabeth said most Collins males should act like a gentleman with class and culture.

Collinwood Vicki's bedroom

Vicki tossed and turned, she kept seeing those mocking blue eyes and hearing that mocking laughter taking great pleasure with her discomfiture. She had to put him out of her mind and think of the morning and getting to the old House before Barnabas left for the day. She had to see him and tell him about Trask's ghost appearing to her that night. Drifting off all she could see in her sleep were those penetrating blue eyes with a devilish mocking smile and the words, "Want to help me conserve water? She felt her body flush at where her thoughts and her dreams were leading her and she sat up and thumped her pillow, "Damn him." She muttered softly and then feel back on her pillows and tried to go back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Collinwood

Quentin chuckled softly watching her rush from the house; he knew she was avoiding him by leaving so early. He had heard her in the bathroom earlier, she was in there too short a time to get a shower, dress and prepare for the morning. He was certain she would avoid eye contact with him and found that rather charming in a mousy sort of a way. Then when he had gone for his morning absolutions he noted she had removed all her products from the room and the only things left were those of his, David's and Roger's. Which with three men in the house, it was a natural summation that she would wish to change bathrooms and have a boys room and a girl's room. He had rather looked forward to seeing her at breakfast she had that delightful way of looking down and not at him, and she fidgeted so nicely with her hands or shuffled her feet because he made her uncomfortable with his sexuality or was it her sexuality.

He watched her scurry towards the old house and he quirked a curious brow. He had to ponder was she lovers with this cousin Barnabas? If that were the case she would be scurrying back from the old house after a night of passion spent in his bed but she had not given him the impression she was familiar with the male gender or the male gender's gender parts.

From her reaction the past evening he could tell she was a virgin and had never been with a man even at the tender age of twenty-two. Now Carolyn was a modern woman and he could tell she had been a free will child and had already experimented and found she enjoyed her experiment.

But this one was not as knowledgeable and she certainly held all the innocent aspects of being a virgin. Well nothing for it, he would miss breakfast with the governess. Turning back to his wardrobe he pulled out a tie and tied it in place, slipping his jacket on, he walked to the door and opened it and wondered what this day would bring. He was going to take care of that bit of business and then come back and maybe wait and have a drink while he wondered if he could get the governess to blush for him again.

Pathway to Old House

Vicki scurried along the pathway towards the old house, she wanted desperately to catch Barnabas before he left for his business in Bangor but was afraid of arriving too early and catching him trying to leave and perhaps catching his ire for keeping him from his pressing business.

Regardless she wanted to tell him of her late night visitor to her room and she did wish to avoid the newest member in residence of the Collins family. Quentin had thoroughly embarrassed her the night before and was not ready to face him at this time. So, she had a toast and coffee breakfast and hurried from the house sure she would miss him.

She had snuck back early that morning to collect her shampoo and conditioner from the bathroom and did not wish to find him trying to get into the bathroom to shave or whatever men did first thing in the morning. The most she had witnesses was Roger in his smoking jacket and in the drawing room nursing a drink. Then there had been David in his night robe getting ready for bed, she had seen them both dressed and not in delicate in the bathroom as she had found Quentin, the night before in his all-together nudeness. Vicki was pretty sure she wanted to avoid such further encounters so thought it best to transfer her products and bathing implements to the bathroom used by Mrs. Stoddard and Carolyn.

So having thus far avoided the encounter with Quentin hurried along the well-trodden path to the old house to arrive nearly out of breath and nervously wondering if she should even be there. Raising her hand to knock on the door was startled when the door was flung open and a very surprised Willie Loomis stood eyes wide and mouth open with a "Whut are you doin' here?"

Vicki attempted to put on her best smile and noting Willie's surprised look and hurriedly gushed, "Is Barnabas home Willie?"

To have a rude response of "No, he left at dawn to go to Bangor!" Then he felt bad because she had such a stricken lost look to her face. "Sorry Miss Winters but he left at dawn and won't be back until dusk. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Vicki glanced back with an apologetic look and sighed deeply, "No Thank you Willie, I will I suppose see him later? He will be back tonight?"

Willie nodded and looked nervously over his shoulder and Vicki suddenly felt that Willie was hiding something and was looking at Barnabas behind the door and thought he did not wish to see her. "I see, well when he returns, please ask him to stop by Collinwood, there is something I wish to discuss with him, and I wont' take much of his time. Have a nice day Willie." She was embarrassed for being so silly and imposing on him at this hour. Vicki turned on her heel and walked down the steps and got about as far as the front gate and turned back and looked at the desolate looking old house and sighed. For the first time since he moved in to that house she felt as alone and isolated as that house looked. She felt the interloper and oddly sad that she had such an unfriendly greeting when she arrived. Perhaps she had misread his feelings for her and now she was feeling very foolish and very insecure, hesitating she waited for Willie's beat up old truck to chug into view and she waved him down.

Willie pulled up next to her and rolled his window down. "You want a ride to Collinwood Miss Winters?"

Vicki shook her head. "Do you think you could give me a lift to the Collinsport Inn? I would really appreciate it Willie and would be happy to pay you gas money."

Willie shrugged off the offer and shifted some of the messy paper work and dirty work clothes from the seat to make room for her to sit on the bench seat. There was a time he would have happily had someone as nice looking as Vick in his truck but somehow having her sit on his dirty bench seats seemed almost sacrilegious. "Sure have a seat and don worry about the gas I have plenty in the tank. I was headin that way any how and taking you is not that much more on my gas or me."

Vicki smiled her appreciation and opened the passenger side door. It gave an annoyingly loud squeak. Willie grimaced and made a mental note to load it down with W-D 40. "Sorry, it is a bit rusty, but the seats are pretty clean on the passenger side." He offered as a form of an apology. Vicki slid in tucking her skirt about her slender legs and then looked away, it just did not seem proper for him to be ogling her when he knew Barnabas was courting her.

Road to Collinsport

He pulled the ancient old beater of a truck out onto the main road gong to Collinsport; Vicki spoke softly, "Willie, it really is not necessary for you to tell Mr. Collins to come to Collinwood. I've had time to think over the problem I had and well I pretty well resolved the issue, so do not trouble him with my petty requests."

Willie kept his eyes on the roadway he knew he had pretty precious cargo in his truck and he wanted to make sure nothing happened to her or he would have hell to pay from Barnabas. "Um, yeah you sure? I mean its no bother to let him know when he gets back from Bangor."

Vicki nodded she was convinced that Barnabas had been hiding out of sight in the Old house and was avoiding her so she was sure she did not wish to impose or bother him with such trivial things such as what happened with Quentin or with Trask. "Yes, I am sure, as a matter of fact, I guess it would be best if I avoided him all together and not bother him when he is around. But thank you for all of your help Willie, you have been so kind and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate your help."

This was beginning to sound kind of bad from what he could put together and now he started to worry that she had remembered something from the past and it was his fault. Now if Barnabas thought he had done anything to prevent his pursuing her for his next interest and his need to create Josette, he was gong to be in trouble and the last thing he needed was to be in trouble with the dangerous and deadly Mr. Collins. So in an attempt to make things better between them, Willie spoke off handedly and this made things worse for Vicki, "You know he likes you a lot Miss Winters and maybe he just is getting tired of trying to convince you to like him in return, I mean you know well he is the kind of guy that is direct in a lot of ways but he likes the romance and well I am sure that he is just tired, that is all."

This made Vicki feel worse than she already did; he was avoiding her to think of a way to give her a soft-handed farewell. The thought of loosing him as a friend constricted her heart and she turned her face away from Willie. Hiding the sudden burn of tears. "I see." Was her only reply and it was so soft Willie was not sure he had heard her correctly.

"But don get me wrong Miss Winters, Vicki, I am sure he would love to hear from you." He had to rush that last part in because he could not stand to hear the hurt in her voice.

The truck lumbered up to the outside of the Collinsport Inn and Vicki waited for Willie to slide the gearshift into park. "Thank you Willie, just do me a favor and don't bother Mr. Collins or even tell him I came by this morning. I have my answer to what I was wondering about and it is not necessary to bother him. I know he is busy and has a lot on his mind right now so do not burden him with my silly thoughts. You have a great day Willie." She slid from the truck and slammed the door hard as it again gave an annoyingly loud squeak when she opened then closed the door. Stepping up on the sidewalk she waved bye to Willie and ducked inside the hotel and waited for the truck to belch a large smoke ring out of the tail pipe and disappear down the road.

Evans Cottage

She was crushed and she was so terribly embarrassed by her actions she wanted to find a hole to crawl into and just die. But as that was not the option open to her she waited until she knew Willie was out of sight and then she walked down the street and headed to the Evans Family Cottage. Walking up to the door, she knocked timidly and waited. Sam Evans a robust man with a swarthy complexion and red nose from indulging in drink a little too much answered the door and blinked looking at Vicki. "Oh its you Vicki, what can I do for you?"

Vicki smiled and asked, "Is Maggie up? Is she receiving visitors?"

Sam smiled, "Sure, come on in my dear, we just finished breakfast and she is doing the dishes. Would you like some breakfast?"

Vicki shook her head. Her stomach was in a knot from the thoughts she was trying hard to forget and she just thought she needed some black coffee." Not breakfast Mr. Evans but a hot cup of coffee would be really nice, that is if it's no bother to you or Maggie?"

Sam slid the door wide open and smiled, "Well come on in Miss Winters and sit on the sofa while I go tell Maggie to rustle you up a cup of coffee."

Maggie sat on the sofa in the living room area of the cottage on the table sat two cups of coffee and Vicki rested next to Maggie, "So you don't remember anything from the time you were taken until you came back to the Blue Whale that night?"

Maggie nodded, "It is strange it is almost like I know what happened hut it is hidden behind this huge veil and I can't see through or past it. So no not really, my mind is a complete blank for that time."

Vicki sighed for her friend and then said softly, "The only thing I know for sure Maggie is that you are back and for that I am very glad. You cannot imagine how happy I am to know that it was you I saw in the cemetery that day when Burke and I went to put flowers on Josette's grave."

Maggie muttered softly "Cemetery? Josette? Those are familiar sounding things to me and for the life of me I cannot understand why."

Vicki smiled reached for her cup of coffee and then said softly "Well Josette is easy to explain, she is the famous Collins family ghost that jumped from Widows Hill about two hundred years ago. As for the cemetery, that is where Burke and I found you that one night you went missing. You were wandering around in the cemetery."

Maggie stood and walked to the large bay window, folding her arms she and peered out at the long neglected garden her mother had planted and sighed thinking she would have to do something about it, then turned to Vicki, "Did we know why I was there that night?"

Vicki stood, setting her cup down and stepped next to Maggie, she was admiring the over grown garden and found it somewhat appealing in a odd sort of way. "No, I got a mysterious phone call that said to go to the cemetery and we would find you there. That we had to hurry because you were in danger"

Maggie shook her head and turned reaching over she hugged her friend. "I have not told you how much I appreciate you Vicki and all you have done for me. I am sorry I just cannot remember anything else about that time when I was gone"

Vicki returned her friend's hug and smiled, "Maggie, don't worry about it, we were all so terribly worried that well we are just glad you are back with us and safe."

Maggie sighed, "Not according to Sheriff Patterson, he thinks that before I will be safe again he must find the man that did all of this to me and the other women that were attacked." Vicki had to agree with the sheriff in some respects she did feel that Maggie was still in danger and wanted to keep a close eye on her.

Collinsport Streets

Making her excuses to leave, Vicki slipped on her coat, hugged Maggie and started down the street, her mind filled with a lot of different ideas and notions but the one thing in the fore front of her thoughts was Barnabas and how she was going to avoid him at all costs. She had some time coming up and was thinking of asking Mrs. Stoddard for a week off for a small vacation and she was thinking of going back to New York to the foundling home and seeing old friends there. She neared the intersection across from the Collinsport Inn she heard a loud blast of a horn and Carolyn squeaked to a halt with Quentin in the front seat his eyes were staring at her in a mocking manner and he had a smirk on his lips. "Hey Vicki wanna ride back home?"

She noted he was in the front passenger seat and she would be relegated to the back seat and she was sure she would not be subjected to his smirk or his piercing look so she smiled her appreciation nodding to Carolyn, stepped to the back seat and slid in. "Thank you." She said softly while Carolyn waited for her to close the door before she stomped on the gas peddle and sent them blasting off down the street. The sudden take off pressed Vicki to the back seat, regaining her equilibrium she settled into a quiet thoughtful pose.

"So where did you go so early this morning Vicki? We missed you at breakfast didn't we Cousin Quentin?"

Quentin slid sideways so he could pin her with his gaze and smiled, "Yes we did, were you off on a mysterious date or rendezvous?"

Not to be rude, Vicki looked back at him, her face beat red and her hands trembled, "No, I wanted to go check on Maggie Evans and see how she was doing."

Carolyn was immediately curious and not so jovial she asked softly, "Maggie, oh yes, how is she doing? I hope she is not suffering any ill effects from her horrible time in that sanitarium"

Vicki took that opportunity to look away from that mocking stare of Quentin's and he glanced to Carolyn while Vicki looked up and caught Carolyn's gaze in the rear view mirror. "I found her to be confused but in good health, she just does not remember anything from the time she disappeared until she arrived at the Blue Whale last night, all her other memories have returned but that section off her life is a mystery."

Quentin considered the conversation and spoke more to him self but out loud. "Sounds like to me she was brain washed."

Carolyn glanced to Quentin and then up into the rearview mirror and studied Vicki before allowing her eyes to travel back to the roadway. "You are well traveled Quentin, do you really think she has been brainwashed? Who would have done it?"

Quentin shrugged lightly and offered a conjecture of an idea, "Well if it were not Collinsport, I would wonder if we have been infiltrated by the Russians and she saw them one night and they kidnapped her and held her long enough to wipe her memory and possibly put a trigger word in her mind, then one day she gets a phone call they say the word and she gets in a car and goes to assassinate someone."

Vicki's gasped and her eyes widen and she glanced to the back of Quentin's head then caught a side view of his face. He was smiling and she wished she could see his eyes, and almost as if he had read her thoughts turned and fixed those twinkling mirth filled eyes upon her shocked face. "Oh you are jesting!" She had almost believed him, what with the cold war with Russian and the recent Hollywood versions of what could happen if Russia wanted to invade the United States had a lot of people uneasy with subversive agents taking on American Identities and being sent in as secret killers, that they did not even know they were sent as secret agents of the Soviet Union. Then she realized something, "Mr. Collins what exactly do you do?"

Carolyn piped up to answer for him, "He is the great mystery author Grant Douglas. Vicki, his last book was on the top seller's list of New York for almost a year."

The dawning of realization hit Vicki and she blushed red again while he watched her completely amused by her reaction to his identity. "Oh that Grant Douglas of Red Skies' Warning?"

Vicki shifted uneasily she had read it and found it to be impossible trash, and the premise was very much like what he had just described. "Oh you red my last novel?"

Vicki looked down at her hands folded in her lap and spoke softly, "I did." Then she lowered her voice and spoke softly, "And I wished I had not."

Quentin had heard that mumbled part and smiled, she must read the racy parts where there was a lot of sex between the American Agent and the Russian Agent and in the end her target had been him. But as true love won out, she found that her brain washing could be broken because of love, true love. "A little too steamy for you Miss Winters?"

Vicki had recalled those parts but what she found appalling was that in the end not only could she not kill her lover. She had died tragically in her lover's arms by another agent. With her dying breath she had told him she carried his child. This had left the American agent devastated and alone. "I found it predictable Mr. Collins or do I call you Mr. Douglas?"

Now that response did elicit a reaction from Quentin and he flinched, "Oww, tough critic in the backseat Carolyn."

Carolyn giggled, and then spoke a bit condescending to Quentin about Vicki as a third party, "Well that is not surprising Quentin, her particular source of reading material are the old dry books in the Collins library and they are mostly the classics."

Quentin chuckled, "Not a bad choice but a bit dated. I suppose if you wish Miss Winters if you give me your book, I shall autograph it for you, I know my autograph is going to be worth something some day, but not today, the only good it will be or worth anything is on a blank check!"

He laughed and Carolyn joined into the laughter. Vicki shifted and spoke softly, "Thank you Mr. Collins, but I fear I gave the book to the library it was their copy. The only reason I had your book was because I was bored and wanted to try something more modern and upbeat. The librarian an obvious avid fan recommended your book. I found that my version of upbeat was not to be found in your last book."

Carolyn chided Quentin, "Why do all your books end almost the same way Cousin Quentin? I mean the man meets the woman, they fall in love, she gets pregnant and then she dies either in child birth or is killed."

Quentin laughed, and this time there was no humor in the tone of that laugh, "Well it sells books, I suppose when the day comes and something else sells I shall write about it."

Vicki found a moment in herself that would allow for a bit of a tease to Quentin and spoke softly from the backseat, "Or perhaps you write about what you know and your past you never found true love and you cannot relate to it, so you write about it from a cynical point of view."

Carolyn laughed outright. "Vicki that is ridiculous! Quentin has gads of women falling over him and wanting to be in love with him, he could pick and choose from them all."

Vicki had watched him from the back seat and he could not have hidden that jaw clinching down and tightening of his neck muscles she hit the point on the head. "True Carolyn, but it does not mean he knows what love is or how it really feels."

Quentin twisted around in the seat and shot a venomous look at her and said in clipped tones. "I suppose in your vast years of experience you have found true love and know what it is and how to embrace it and cherish it or are you using your own little girl fantasies to draw on your own conclusions, for if you are so vastly experienced Miss Winters perhaps I should interview you so I can experience what you have vicariously through you."

Vicki was so uncomfortable with that condemning stare that she glanced up and saw the entrance to Collinwood. "Carolyn, please stop the car, and let me out here, I want to walk the rest of the way, obviously I have annoyed Mr. Collins." Carolyn pulled to the side she noted another car following her from behind. It too was a large expensive car pulled up behind Carolyn and the occupant watched the rear door opened and a small figure stepped out and into view. The slow easy smile and look of triumph filled his entire features he watched another door open and he frowned as the man he had come to see exited the vehicle and start across the lawn.

"Oh this is silly, Vicki get in the car and you too Quentin! You two were baiting each other and now because you both want to be mad you are leaving me at the wheel with a simple five minute drive to the house by my self."

Vicki turned and saw Gregory Trask sitting behind the wheel of his car and then watched the tall man hunkered over with hands thrust in his pockets walking towards the front door of Collinwood. "Carolyn, I am sorry, please tell Mr. Collins I apologize, but sincerely, I need some air and right now I am feeling a bit peevish and Mr. Trask is being held up."

Carolyn looked at her otherwise happy go lucky friend and sighed deeply. She was hurt and it had something to do with a man, she could see the look and tell immediately, a man had disappointed Vicki and that was why she was hurt. The female part of Carolyn wanted to get out of her car and run to her friend and hug her and tell her she was sorry and was there for her, but too soon she had disappeared into the wood line and was gone from sight. Disappointed Gregory Trask also watched her disappear from sight and frowned, he had hoped to ask her out to dinner minus Barnabas Collins. Sliding from his car, and closing the door, he began to walk after the lovely young woman that had captured his imagination. Catching up with her he called, "Miss Winters!"

Vicki rolled her eyes and moaned softly hearing his voice from behind. Composing her self she turned slowly put on a forced smiled and nodded to the man as he approached her. "Hello Mr. Trask, how are you today?"

He smiled his most charming and winning smile and spoke softly, "I will be very happy if you would do me the honor of dining out with me this evening?"

Vicki thought a moment and smiled, "Would you mind having dinner in Portland? I could be ready by four if you wanted to pick me up."

The smile that etched his face made his eyes shine with victory and happiness and he felt he finally had won one over on Collins. "That is wonderful, I shall be here promptly at four, until then," he reached for her hand kissed it and then lowered it from his lips and smiled, "I will be waiting with baited breath and excited anticipation."

Vicki felt immediately suspicious, "Mr. Trask it is nothing more than dinner I assure you that should you expect anything else, I will rebuff your advances."

Quick to reassure her, Trask spoke quickly, "No I am very excited to take this time to just get to know you a little better my dear. I expect nothing more than a nice dinner and your company is all I require to make me happy."

Vicki relaxed and smiled, "Very well I shall see you at four." She turned and walked away gently tugging her hand from his as she went. Trask watched her walk away and was immediately reminded what it was about her that had attracted him, it was her innocence and the purity of her look, she was truly an untouched twenty-two year old woman that had got lost in time some how and then was returned with a mark on her soul that made her look more vulnerable than she had before. Smiling his eyes twinkled and a bit of a lascivious thought filled his mind as he did picture her naked body under his while they writhed in the throes of passion caught up in each other. Where his thoughts had taken him affected him physically and he flushed somewhat he adjusted his male member to not be so obvious and he moaned softly, "If only I could talk you into a tryst with me this night!" He sighed and the thoughts of dealing with the legal entanglements of one Grant Douglas had him deflated and ready to focus on his current problem in front of him. There was that one problem and that being Quentin Collins also known as Grant Douglas.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Collinwood Library

Vicki stepped into the front foyer of Collinwood. She glanced at the clock and knew David would be working on his last assignment she had left for him. Walking to the library she stopped and knocked on the door. The soft voice of Elizabeth responded. "Come in." Vicki opened the door and stepped into the room. Elizabeth was as expected working on the cannery accounts and going over some legal papers Roger had brought home earlier. "Vicki, hello dear, how is David coming along with his studies?"

Vicki stepped to the chair that sat opposite of Mrs. Stoddard's desk folding her hands primly over her lap. "Well He is coming along very nicely, and he seems to be catching onto the new material I have been giving him. However, David is not why I am here."

Elizabeth looked curiously up from her mountain of paper work. She studied Vicki intently she sat back and steeple her fingers together. "Really? What is troubling you my dear?" She watched the girl across from her and was very concerned for her mental health and well-being and had been since her disappearance and sudden reappearance.

Vicki sat back and studied her own hands now locked tightly together in her lap. Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly then glanced up to look at the woman that had become a mother figure for her. "I was wondering if I could have a week off? I was planning a trip to New York and to visit some of my old friends. I have sometime that I have not taken and I think I need to get away for a while."

Liz had not expected this revelation and was surprised at the request; she leaned forward over her books, folded her hands together in front of her and fixed that concerned blue gaze on the girl's face. "Vicki are you not happy here at Collinwood?"

Vicki shook her head and sat forward wanting desperately to reassure her employer that she was just needing a small break from David and the events that were unfolding in this big house. The fact she felt her heart was being broken by what she perceived was Barnabas' rejection of her had to be kept to her self and not allowed to be let out for anyone's knowledge. "No, no Mrs. Stoddard, I am happy here at Collinwood. I just feel a bit over whelmed with everything that has happened up to this point and I just want to go back to something familiar that is a secure place for me. I don't really know how to explain it. I love being here with you and the rest of the family. It is just right now, with Burke's death, the strange events that sent me back in time, being shot while in the past, and now back and feeling a bit unsettled. I was hoping you could understand."

Elizabeth did understand and this question had been nothing more than making sure she felt secure and happy at Collinwood. That answer had been far more important to her than any other thought or question. The affect she had on David was nothing short of miraculous. The whole family had come to view her more than as an employee or David's governess. They had begun to think of her as family. She had noted that Barnabas was taking an interest in her and had hoped that they would cultivate that relationship. "Well of course Vicki, I do understand, and if you wish a week off to get reacquainted with your friends in New York, then I would not stand in your way of going. If there is anything else that you would need from me, I do hope you feel comfortable enough to come and speak to me about it first."

Vicki smiled her appreciation studying Mrs. Stoddard, Vicki stood slowly. And watched Mrs. Stoddard push away from the desk and look around the room. Vicki wishing to reassure her employer spoke in an uneasy rush. "I am so happy you do understand and know I am very happy here, I just need a little break from all the drama that I have allowed into my life and wish to just get away and visit old friends." Having said this Vicki had stood and walked about the room, running her fingertips over the back of the fireside chairs, and the large teak cabinet that stood by the entrance doorway.

Realizing Mrs. Stoddard had grown quiet. Vicki glanced back to Elizabeth and watched the woman drop her own look from her and study the books that sat open on the desk. On silent footfalls she walked back to the desk and sat in the chair she had previously occupied. Vicki leaned forward listening while Liz spoke with soft tones, her words were chosen carefully like she was thinking about the request. "I do understand my dear, just give me enough notice of when you plan to leave and I will perhaps send David and Carolyn to Boston for a week."

Vicki was relieved and smiled again feeling her heart warmed by the reception she had received from Mrs. Stoddard for her request. Standing slowly feeling relieved there were no hurt feelings and everything was copasetic. Vicki stood and stepped towards the door where she paused then turned and glanced at the bent head of Liz Stoddard. "If it is just the same to you Mrs. Stoddard, I think I will leave day after tomorrow? It will be Friday and well, I could return the following Friday."

She waited for a response from Liz anxiously laying fingertips to the doorknob and watched her employer. Liz glanced up smiled and nodded. Then offered with that same soft thoughtful tone, "That I think would work out well, and I could send David and Carolyn for a small holiday to Boston, maybe Roger could take them with him. He is planning a business trip for next week."

David's room

Feeling pretty happy with the way things were going, Vicki left the library feeling a little better and walked up the stairs to David's room and paused in the doorway watching him while he worked on the math problems she had given him earlier. Entering the room, he paused from his calculations and glanced up. "Hello Vicki, I am almost done with the math problems. Could I take a break for about an hour? I want to see if I can find Sarah and ask her about something that had been bothering me."

Vicki slid to the chair next to him, reached for the English assignment glancing at it she looked over at how many of the problems he still had to resolve.

He was just finishing the last two problems and she smiled. "That would be fine David. I really stopped in to let you know that I am about to take a trip to New York. Your Aunt said something about sending you and Carolyn with your father to Boston for a holiday while I am gone."

David frowned and slid his math problems to Vicki then turned to sit on the foot of his bed with a pout and a hint of a sullen look to him. Vicki heard him sighing deeply he glanced around the room. "Why are you going to New York? Are you coming back?"

Vicki had glanced at the problems he had worked and found them to be accurate from what she had seen on the glance her gaze went over to the history lesson and she frowned and saw he had not made much progress on the quiz she had given him regarding Australia. "David of course I am coming back to Collinwood, I am just taking a small vacation for a week. And I see from this that you have not finished your history lesson. So, you must promise me that once you come back from looking for Sarah you finish this."

She had put his history lesson back inside his history book with a stern but loving look. David took the history book, thumbed through the back of the book and pulled out some folded pages and laid them in front of her. David smiled with a look of mischievousness he winked. "I did that first and just folded the pages over. You can look it over, I am pretty sure I got them all right." He reached for his coat, and darted towards his door. Turning he ran back and hugged Vicki tightly and spoke softly. "I love you Miss Winters be sure you do come back."

Turning he dashed out before she could return his hug and left her with a shake of the head and a soft chuckle. Looking over his completed assignments she had to admit the boy had come a long way since the last year. He actually was applying him self and was advancing nicely. Glancing over at his bedside clock, she stood and took the pages with her. She thought if she took them to her room, she could grade them.

Vicki's bedroom

Then she would have time to get ready for her date and a part of her trembled at the thought and wondered at her desperation to avoid Barnabas if she had made a big mistake agreeing to dinner in Portland with Mr. Trask. Thinking about it now she knew if she kept the conversation as light and on current topics avoided, politics, religion and questions about the Collins family, she could avoid Barnabas and be back around ten o'clock and go straight to bed. Dressing quickly, she pulled at the ribbon around her hair nervously and glanced to the clock. The hour hand was moving too fast to the four o'clock appointed time and she knew she would need to be going down stairs soon to wait for Mr. Trask, when a knock on her door interrupted her thought process.

Walking to the door she opened it and Carolyn stood with a wide smirk and sparkling eyes of excitement. "So, you go on a short vacation and mother sends us off to Boston with Uncle Roger! This is just wonderful. I get to take the demon to Boston and let him run rampant while Uncle Roger is in business meetings all day."

Vicki was glad she knew her friend as well as she did or she might have felt guilty or offended by the brashness of her statement. Glancing one more time to the clock on her bedside table she felt panic rising in her chest. What had she done? She was going to be trapped in a car with a man she hardly knew.

She also somewhat detested the man because of his ancestor and she was now trying to placate Carolyn and resenting the fact that she needed to defend her need to get away. "Carolyn, I am going to the fondling home where I grew up to see a few of my old friends and to get away for a short break. I did not ask your mother to make you David's guardian while in Boston, now if you would excuse me. I have a date this evening and I need to go."

Vicki grabbed her coat from the closet and walked towards her door passing Carolyn, when Carolyn's hand shot out to stop her.

"Wait a minute Vicki, I am not complaining. I only have the terror for the daytime. Nighttime is my thing and Uncle Roger will be back at the Hotel for that time. I just wanted to ask you to send along some problems for him to work on so I would not need to deal with any problems with him during the day."

Vicki sighed deeply looked at the panic in the young girls face and smiled, "Of course I will send something along and maybe make up a scavenger hunt for him, like finding things at the different museums and the zoo as well as the other historical markers in Boston, that will keep him busy. As a matter of fact take the Polaroid camera along and you can take pictures of him at each location to show me he was there. Then when he gets back we can make a historical scrap book."

Carolyn beamed with excitement and laughed she spun around and around giggling. "You are wonderful Vicki! Thank you and then I can have the evenings to hit the night spots."

Stopping in the spinning and happy dance, Carolyn bounced over to Vicki's side and kissed her cheek and hugged her. "Thank you so much Vicki. Oh by the way, Mr. Trask is waiting downstairs and he smells dreamy and cleaned up very nicely. What made you decide to go on a date with him? I thought you and Barnabas were an item."

Vicki had turned from Carolyn then she turned back and put her fingers to her doorknob. Stepping back she looked at the door and spoke softly. "I decided that perhaps I was too much trouble for Barnabas and perhaps it was time to give him some leeway."

Vicki stepped forward to open the door and walked out with Carolyn following behind her looking concerned while she walked with her in tandem with her towards the upstairs landing. "Well I think you and Barnabas made a cute couple, and I thought you two were beginning to have feelings for each other."

Pausing for a moment Vicki fought for control with her emotions and spoke softly in return. "I thought we were too, but apparently, he avoided me this morning using Willie as a ruse to get around me when I went to talk to him."

Carolyn frowned and looked down she thought about this statement. Then lifting her head she spoke softly. "I am so sorry Vicki, that makes him a first class jerk. But on the upside I noticed Trask likes you a lot. He has been watching the door since he arrived with Quentin, did you know that Quentin has a pen name of Grant Douglas? I have read almost all his books and they are wonderful, full of adventure, sexy women under the soft moonlight. Oh wait you knew that from the spat you had with him this morning. Oh silly me where is my mind?"

Vicki watched her walk on down the hallway to her room and stopped a moment to reflect on their conversation. She was really feeling uneasy about this date. However she did not want to be here when Barnabas arrived. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened the door to the upstairs landing.

Opening her eyes she planted a superficial smile on her face and walked on to the landing and at a hurried paced towards the stairs. She glanced down to see Trask standing in the open doorway of the drawing room, and noted he must have heard her approach because he turned and smiled with a look of triumph.

Vicki held her coat draped over her arm and walked towards him, "Hi, I am ready when you are." She glanced over Trask's shoulder noting that Quentin was standing by the fireplace with a drink in his had and the proverbial smirk planted on his face.  
Nodding to Quentin she spoke softly, "Good evening Mr. Collins, or would you prefer your pen name, Mr. Douglas?" She watched Quentin quirked a brow and smiled.

"Well if you must know, I prefer Quentin when I am in residence here, but for you Miss Winters, you may call me whatever you wish. As long as it does not offend others." He lifted his drink and took a long draw off of the glass of bourbon he held in his hand. Then he looked to Trask, "I will warn you Greg, she has a sharp tongue and a quick wit, so I would go with my guard up and gird your loins. She just may try to emasculate you in her attempt to maintain that virginal look."

Vicki blushed a deep pink, looked at Trask and said softly, "Are you ready to go? I am finding the company in this room a bit filled with an over inflated ego." She stepped back to the front door with the coat she had brought with her draped over her arm and not giving Trask much choice except to follow her to the door. Pausing only momentarily he turned to her and spoke softly.

"Please give me just one more moment, here are the keys to my car you can go on out if you are that uncomfortable with the lout. I think though if you give him half a chance you could see a different side of him." Vicki took the keys from him and walked to the door and turned back to look at the smirk on his face and was about to speak but he beat her to it.

"I think she has not quite recovered from seeing all of things me au natural! That was one side she did not expect to see Greg, and as for the continuation of this conversation, I am telling you I did not bring that artifact back with me. I sent it via postal service from Romania when I left. I do not expect it to arrive for another month, it was sent fourth-class postal crate. So do not argue with me about this further go and enjoy your date and be on your best behavior, I am sure that Miss Winters will broke no impropriety or debauchery from you." Quentin lifted his glass chuckling while he sipped.

Trask frowned and glared at Quentin, "I believe she would have far more to worry about with you around than me Quentin, just know that the contractor that requested you bring the artifact back is not happy and has sent me to tell you unless it is delivered to him by the time specified he will consider the contract null and void and will exact whatever payment he feels is necessary to make his point that he is not to be trifled with." Trask spun around and stormed out of the door behind Vicki.

Vicki had already stepped to the car and let herself into the front seat, draping her coat over her lap she watched the front drive way and noted that a black van was driving back and forth across the front gate and found it curious and wondered if they were lost. Gregory slid into his side of the car he noted she had put the keys into the ignition. "Thank you for giving me a chance to finish my discussion with Mr. Collins." Vicki drug her attention away from the black panel van as it disappeared around the bend of the driveway and turned back to Trask.

She glanced at the setting sun and then to the end of the driveway and saw Julia and Dr. Lang approaching the entry and turned back to Trask. "Not a problem, I knew you had business with him and really did not wish to interfere but that man can be the most irritating, disgusting, cretin I have had the misfortune to meet." He could tell she was doing a slow burn with her emotions barely in check after her brief encounter with Quentin.

"I can readily understand how irritating he can be, I have a client that I also represent that is none to happy with how he conducts his business and I was sent to well let us just say that my job is to play intermediary and to resolve disputes." He navigated the drive and pulled pass the large green sedan with a nod to Lang and Julia as they passed them. Navigating the car out onto the roadway, Vicki took a glance and noticed the black panel truck was now following them. Vicki glanced back to study Trask in profile and found he had a strong jawline and Grecian stylized nose.

Road to Logansport

From behind the couple; four men occupied the black van. The rear section of the truck had been dressed with surveillance equipment two men in dark blue coveralls sat at the panel of electronics with a small television set in the center, a large keyboard that was built into a computer that took up the other part of the van. The two men in the front seat were dressed in black suits with white shirts and black narrow ties wearing sunglasses. They followed the large expensive Lincoln Continental driving out to the main highway out of Collinsport.

"Sir, Mr. Knightwing has requested an update on the Collins situation." The man that sat at the control center looked to the driver of the vehicle. The driver nodded slowly and fell back from the couple in the large expensive car that drove swiftly down the open highway towards the south of Collinsport. He turned and peered over to his partner in the front seat. They seemed to communicate between each other and the passenger slid around and manipulated to the back of the panel van sitting on a bench seat behind the two techs.

"Send the following message to Knightwing we have the party in question under observation, that it seems he is going on a date this evening with one of the residents from Collinwood, and to have him advise how he wishes us to proceed?" He watched one of the techs began to tap out Morse code on his keypad sending the message just dictated by the passenger from the front seat. The antenna rotated on top of the van under a plastic bubble that had been darkened by a black out film. The three waited for a response and the wait was momentary when a response was transmitted back to them. One tech decoded the transmission then wrote it out and handed it over to the passenger.

The passenger read the response gave a tight smile looked back at the two techs and spoke roughly in Romanian, "Tu știi ce să faci, te-au primit ordinele." They both nodded and sat back and waited for a moment before making their notes and using their equipment. The passenger slid back to the front seat and glanced to his partner, "He wants the woman as collateral to give incentive to Collins and Trask to get him what he wants. I have instructed the techs to get the information that is needed about this woman with Trask and to the Collins Family. They are working on a background for her now."

The driver nodded, "Yuri, where are we to take her once she has been intercepted? Did he indicate where she was to be held?" The man nodded and looked out the window noting the sun was going down and that the night would be coming alive shortly for most the residents along this sleepy coastal community. The passenger leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply he thought about how they were going to take control of this situation when they had the girl. He processed those thoughts with a hint of something niggled at the back of his mind.

"He wants her taken to the plane and brought back to him at Orvae Castle. With her secured there, he will have the advantage over Collins and Trask. So they will secure her and we will make our flight plan and head back to Romania and to Knightwing." The driver sat silent and a small frown edged the corner of his lips thinking about this change in the plans. Had it been him, he would have merely killed Trask and Collins and waited for the crate to be delivered and intercepted it and taken it back to the castle. Now he wondered at what his employer was playing in this game. Why involve another that very well may need to be disposed of later. This assignment was becoming more convoluted by the minute. They continued to follow from a distance the two in the large luxury car in front of them.

They drove towards Logansport, an uncomfortable silence had fallen between Vicki and Trask. "Well Miss Winters, I really did not expect that you would ever accept an invitation out on a date with me with Barnabas Collins in the picture. I thought the two of you were close." He had stated it simply as a lawyer would cross-examine a witness on the stand. Vicki had chose to not respond right away that particular subject was a sore one for her. Instead she tried to focus on the side view mirror to see if they were still being followed by the large black panel truck.

Looking towards Trask and then back to the front view of the car she spoke softly, "I think Mr. Trask, you should keep this conversation to more banal topics, if you wish to know about Barnabas Collins then I suggest you speak directly to him. As for any relationship or alleged relationship we have or had it is not relevant to this situation at this time or is it your buisness "

Trask now saw what Quentin meant by her quick wit and sharp tongue. Smiling he thought he rather liked this side of the little mouse. He would have to reassess his perception of her. He had too readily found himself thinking of her as a little mouse with a little squeak and no threat. He was finding she was more like the shrew that had a backbone and sharp teeth and when pushed she was more like a rabid rat.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Trask's car on the road to Logansport

"Agreed, then shall I steer this conversation more towards you. Tell me a little of your life, your interests, your job as a governess, do you see yourself being a governess say in another ten or fifteen years?" He had hoped this would direct the conversation more towards a topic she would be more comfortable discussing with him. Little did he realize that instead of engaging her in innocuous conversation he had caused her to freeze up and not wish to discuss her life or her ambitions with him.

"I think my personal life is a bit off limits right now Mr. Trask, perhaps you should allow me to direct the conversation and let us try this from a different perspective. Let me review what I know about you for a change. For instance, you are related to the Trasks that own the local funeral home, your great, great grandfather was a rather notorious man with a dubious reputation for being a witch hunter." She studied her hands in her lap. " I suspect that you are ironically much like him in that respect that you do witch hunts in a different way. You negotiate big deals as a lawyer, do you see yourself practicing this type of law in say ten or fifteen years from now? What are your goals."

She felt she had directed the conversation back to him and this would allow him to try and extoll his virtues as an international lawyer and doing business globally around the world so to speak would give her time to try and relax and hoped no more questions that were awkward or heart rendering hurtful would arise in the conversation. She was actually seeing herself with Barnabas in the next ten to fifteen years. Trask found to try and treat her as a witness was the wrong way to handle her and was now finding he was in the spotlight, something he rather enjoyed under the right circumstances and was wondering if she was sizing him up for husband material. Which he would not object to being considered as long as he knew he had a stake in the matrimonial game with her. She was after all one of the wealthiest women that was alive this day since the death of the C.E.O. of Devlin Enterprises had left her with quiet a diversified trust. So for the rest of the drive he gladly put his credentials on the table for her to think about.

Talking about taking his law classes from Harvard, his undergraduate work was done at Yale so he could boast that he had attended both colleges, his parents had recently died in a car crash and their deaths had left him with a hefty trust fund. He continued to extoll his positive traits and his abilities to be a very good catch. She listened to how he enjoyed his work as a lawyer that handled international laws and the clients he had were very wealthy with peculiar requests and tastes. By the time they arrived at the Portland Inn for dinner, Trask had pretty well summed up his entire life and was rather pleased with how he had managed to make himself look very successful and available for the right woman.

Portland Overland Hotel

Vicki on the other hand had found him to be full of him self and overly proud of under accomplishments that were distorted to appear more than they were. She had seen him as a business savvy man with a good head on his shoulders and she even had considered for Burke's over seas deals to allow him access to some of the legal problems that could crop up if she was not on them quick enough. As she allowed her thoughts to wander she realized he was already at her door and opening it. He smiled his most charming smile and offered his arm as a means for escorting her inside.

Vicki laid her fingers around the upper part of his arm and allowed him to lead her into the foyer of the Inn and over to the Hostess. She had been busy seating the guests when they arrived for their reservations. Trask handed Vicki's coat over to the check girl and smiled his charming smile when she gave him the ticket for their overcoats.

Then they followed the very attractive hostess to a table in the corner and out of the way of most other diners. Something in Vicki was screaming out to not get close to Trask while another part of her wanted to learn more about him. Trask ordered the wine, Vicki stood and smiled, "Will you please excuse me a moment, I need to freshen up before dinner." Trask stood and nodded tucking his tie into his jacket and sat down with the menu in front of him. He was so absorbed in the menu that he did not notice that Vicki was intercepted by two men in the foyer and was escorted out to the curb, where the door opened on the side of the black panel truck and she was summarily tossed roughly through the open doors.

The doors slammed and the two men got into the van and drove off into the night with a very frightened and worried Vicki Winters in the back being trussed up and gagged. It was only a moment after she was bound and gagged that she felt a sharp point enter her hip through her dress and then she knew nothing else drifting down into a pit of darkness with an unfamiliar language being spoken by the men in the back of the truck.

Greg ordered the wine and an appetizer and then glanced at his watch. Someone that was as put together as Miss Winters certainly did not need this long to freshen up. He sat back and studied the room and thought about his date for the night. He certainly was glad she accepted his invitation and for the most part he was considering her a potential for a trophy wife. He had underestimated her intelligence and had half expected her to be as vacuous acting as the little queen bee that was Carolyn Stoddard. Although he had to admit given some time with age and responsibilities Carolyn could be a pretty nice trophy wife too. He checked his watch one more time then glanced up immediately his alarms were going off and he stiffened. There was Newland and Richards in the doorway and they looked pretty damn ridiculous standing there in their dark suits and sunglasses with the sunset now complete. They walked towards Trask and he stood to greet them. "Gentlemen, I was told I would have a week to convince Mr. Collins to be more forth coming and you are interrupting a personal date."

Newland smiled and it was an unpleasant forced action, "Mr. Trask, your date is being detained and will be a guest of Baron Mirceu until he gets what he wants. I am sure you can understand his reluctance on depending on another to force Mr. Collins to be more co-operative than just one man."

Trask turned to look at Richards and he too forced a pleasant enough looking smile on his lips and said softly, "So, if you will come with us, we will let you speak directly to Baron Mirceu." Trask was now truly concerned, he had inadvertently involved Vicki in a real mess that he hoped would be resolved by the time the crate arrived. Laying his napkin on the table he tucked his tie in, button his coat and followed the two men to the front lobby.

The front desk clerk smiled and nodded to a phone on the wall. "If you go there," She pointed to a private phone booth in the lobby, "I shall transfer the call to you Mr. Trask." Greg nodded and stepped with his escort to the phone booth and waited for it to ring. The desk clerk had transferred the call and it rang through.

Greg caught the call on the first ring by lifting the receiver and spoke abruptly into the phone. "Trask." The voice on the other end of the phone had him rattled.

"Ahh yes, Mr. Trask, how kind of you to take my call. I fear that I did not quite make myself clearly understood earlier when we talked."

"Look I have it on Collins assurances that the crate is in transient and will be here in another week. Once he has taken charge of the crate he has assured me he will turn it over to me and in turn I shall turn it over to Richards and Newland."

The voice on the other end would listen to no further excuses he said as abruptly as he could. "You may inform your business partner that Miss Winters will be my guest until I have the artifact in my hands, is that understood. The longer he delays the more tempting the young woman will become to some of my less than agreeable other business partners."

Trask's stomach clinched down hard and he swallowed and felt the sweat begin to form on his brow. "I understand, but please you must understand you have taken an innocent in this whole affair. Surely you realize that as an important member of the current matriarch of the Collins Family, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard will stop at nothing to have her brought back." His words were used as a means to try and reason with an unreasonable opponent.

"Then all the more charming company she shall make for me. If you do not wish that purity to be destroyed Mr. Trask I would advise Mr. Collins of the current change in circumstances and make haste to get me what I want and then you can have what you want in return." The line went to a dial tone with the Baron hanging up leaving no further avenue for discussion.

Trask held the phone in his hand and had just realized how white his knuckles had gone while holding the phone and found he was more angry than afraid. He could not afford to be emotional at this time, he had to think and get with Quentin as soon as possible. Turning he looked at Newland and knew he would get no response from him on the questions he had so he nodded to the men and hurried back to the dining room. Pulling out a fifty dollar bill he set it on the table, gathered up Vicki's coat and his coat and turned and left the room, scurrying with haste towards the entrance and to his car.

Newland and Richards walked towards the black panel truck and waited for Trask to start his car and then they followed him. The man in the back at the controls spoke to no one in particular in Romanian. "Să ne atingem Nightwing nume de cod și spune _him_ ținta noastră este în mișcare înapoi la Collinsport?" Newland turned and looked at Richards and once again there seemed to be some kind of silent communication going on between the two. Richards turned and slid to the back of the van. He spoke in rapid Romanian to the question just asked, which had translated to "Do you wish us to contact codename Knightwing that the target is headed back to Collinsport?"

Richards advised them to send the following message in Romanian. "Target 1 has left Portland and is headed back to Target 2, package should arrive at private airport in Bucharest around 11:00 pm tomorrow. Advise if he will arrange transportation or does he wish us to arrange it?"

While he spoke the tech translated it to Morse code and waited for a response. It came quickly and the tech turned and spoke to Richards. "Knightwing este de părere că `El va avea grijă de aranjamente pentru oaspetele este sfârșitul, tu trebuie să te privesc cu luare acru Collins și Trask sunt sub control și să aștepte pentru naveta ajunge să intre în posesia și, în cazul în care orice altceva he` fac schimb atingeți la hotel." Richards nodded stood and walked back to take the passenger seat of the van. Watching the roadway, he spoke softly. "Knightwing has advised that he shall take care of arrangements for the guest on his end, we are to concern ourselves with making sure Collins and Trask are under control and wait for the crate to arrive and take possession, if anything else changes he will contact us at our hotel."

"Well that takes care of that. I think we will be seeing more action as soon as Trask arrives back at Collinwood and speaks directly with Mr. Collins." He studied the expensive car in front of him and grew more silent and distant his methodical mind began to process what had just happened and where it was going to lead and personally he did not give Victoria Winters a snow balls chance in hell of coming out of this alive. Richard ventured his own thoughts by stating the obvious. "He is going to kill her at the end of this transaction isn't he?"

Newland did not like the idea but wondered what brought about the question from Richards "Why do you care?"

Richards stated exactly what he had been thinking, "I like her, and she is one of those quiet pretty type that did not belong in this mess."

Newland said the first thing that had come to mind, "Then Trask should not have brought her into it."

Richards was getting irritated because he agreed with Newland and he should not care but something in him made him care. "I just think it is a shame, she was so innocent looking one of those rare things you find these days."

Newland was not being callous or flippant he just said what he was thinking, "You mean a virgin?"

Richards thought a moment and that was it, she looked virginal, "Yes, maybe we can talk him into selling her on the market and make some money off of her in human slave trafficking. She at least would be alive."

Newland thought Richard had a good idea but knew that once Mirceu saw Miss Winters she would be one of his own and that would be a shame she was one of those nice girls you wanted to take home to introduce to mom and maybe think about marrying because she was so innocent. He pushed those thoughts behind and followed Trask letting his thoughts go back to his current mission.

Old House

Barnabas opened his eyes and he heard voices outside his coffin and was irritated with Willie for allowing someone down in the cellar at his resting place. Now he would have to destroy anyone that had seen him in his coffin. Then orienting himself to being awake he pushed the lid of the coffin open and sat up. Looking over at Doctor Hoffman and Doctor Lang they waited patiently for him to join them. He realized why they were there and what they had planned and he was no longer irritated with them but with Willie for allowing them in the one area he felt safe while so vulnerable. Rising out of his coffin he straightened his suit, then closed the lid with a decidedly harsh push and looked with a degree of irritation at the two waiting on him. "So, have you dealt with Miss Evans?" No preamble and straight to the point

"Yes, I took care of her memory she recalls nothing of her time here or what you are." Julia was very self-assured with her actions and she stepped towards Barnabas. "I have begun the process of making the serum that will allow you to move around in daylight. We are going to try my way first, if it is not successful then Dr. Lang will attempt to do it his way. We both know that my way is probably just temporary and your body may fight the use of the serum to begin with but eventually will build up a resistance. That is why both of us are here tonight to tell you how we wish to attack this problem of yours."

Barnabas walked to the stairs, "Shall we adjourn to the drawing room to discuss this further. I really have no desire to discuss an important part of my life or the lack thereof in a place that I loathe, despise and resent." He extended his hand to the stairs and waited for them to pass him. When they had he followed them to the top floor and into the drawing room. He paused and turned then called out, "WILLIE!" Willie had been in the kitchen about to sit down and have a nice hot bowl of soup when he heard the bellow of the old bastard in the drawing room and he moaned inwardly. Every damn time he was about to sit down and eat, he had to interrupt and it was bad enough he was fending off others trying to see him while his moldy old ass was lying in that damn coffin in the basement.

Standing quickly he hurried to the parlor and came to a quick halt seeing he had guests. "Un yah Barnabas?" Barnabas turned to his blood slave and tightened his smile, "We have guests, and imagine my surprise when I found them in the cellar awaiting me as I awoke from my sleep." Willie's eyes widen and then he began to tremble and wanted to shit him self but knew that was not an option at this point. He had read somewhere that you empties your bowels when you died and maybe he would find that out.

"Now would you be kind enough to get our guests something to drink and then you may retire for the night Willie, we will discuss your duties, later."

Willie had heard him accent the discussing his duties and translated that into an '_oh shit'_ moment. "Um sure yah. What will you two like to drink?"

Lang stepped to the fireside chair and sat watching the trembling Willie and observed out loud. "He has him under his thrall, how do you suppose that will last once we begin our experiments? Oh I suppose some cordial will be nice or claret cup if you have it?"

Julia also studied Willie and nodded, "it will be interesting to find out exactly how this plays out once we begin, which reminds me, Mr. Collins, Would you object to coming to Eric's lab in Collinsport at sunset? That is of course if you would prefer us to do the experiments here, then we will need a place in the cellar that we can use as a lab." Then as an after thought she turned to Willie and spoke thoughtfully, "Yes, Cordial will be fine or claret cup if you have any." Both doctors were discussing them like they were not in the room and more as speculation and conjecture over their relationship as master and slave. A quick look at Barnabas told him that Barnabas was not amused at being discussed as a lab experiment.

Willie turned and walked out of the room, wondering if his legs would carry him to the liquor cabinet in the den. His mind was shutting down and he was ready to accept the inevitable while he set the cut glass crystal goblet of cordial on the silver tray and two matching glasses. His hands were trembling as he thought about the various ways Barnabas could do him in and the more he thought about it, the more he grew afraid and just wanted to run away. But in his mind he could hear Barnabas' voice. _"Don't even think about it and relax you fool, I won't kill you just yet_ _I still have a use for you. Now do as you are told and get in here!"_

Willie let out a small sigh of relief and lifted the tray of drinks and rambled back to the drawing room. With only the slightest show of tension he set the tray on the small table in front of the bay window and allowed Barnabas to serve the drinks. Apparently they had been discussing their ideas on how to cure Barnabas of his affliction or as they called it his blood disease. Willie tried hard to get the knot out of his stomach and withdrew out of sight but within hearing range and then realized they were watching him. In his fear and folly of trying to be clever and listen he had just realized he had not listened and they were awaiting him to do something.

"Willie will you get your head out of your butt and take the doctors downstairs to the cellar and help them find a room to set up a laboratory for their work they will be doing?"

"Oh yeah sure, come this way." Willie was actually embarrassed for being so clumsy and getting caught in his attempt to be sly. He led them down the steps to the various rooms. He waited anxiously while they were trying to decide which rooms would best suit their needs, Barnabas slipped down the stairs and paused he waited for an opportunity to tell them of his plans.

"If you will excuse me now I wish to go to Collinwood, I understand we have another cousin that has just arrived and I wish to pay my respects to Miss Winters."

Julia and Lang looked at each other and then to Willie, "This will do just fine, we will need it scrubbed down and then tomorrow will have some workmen bring out some equipment, you can show them this room and have them put it here, then Eric and I will arrange the lab the way we need it."

Lang was the first to venture the unasked question, which was exchanged silently between Julia and him self. "Your interest in Miss Winters is it a romantic one?"

"I think that is not your business, let us say I wish to cultivate a relationship with her and should it turn into a romantic one then I will not discourage it." He had started to turn when Eric halted his progress.

"You do realize she is not at Collinwood at this time? I understood from Carolyn that she and Mr. Trask had a date tonight in Portland for dinner and dancing." The reaction he got from Barnabas was a sudden stiffening of his back and a tensing of his hand.

"No I had not realized the lady in question was not in residence. Then I suppose I shall go and make myself known to the new cousin, you both will excuse me. Oh, and Willie, be sure to provide them with whatever they need and no need to wait up for me I shall be late in returning."

Julia started to follow him out the door, "Mr. Collins you are upset with her being with Trask, you do realize that relationships are dangerous once we start these series of serums that we are not sure how they will affect you and you may suffer some distress." Barnabas paused turned and leveled his gaze at the brash red haired woman.

"I understand you perceive I am a specimen you wish to dissect under your microscope and hope to make a name for your self and will remind you both that no one can find out about me or my condition is that understood?" He shot a dangerous glance to both the doctors. "I agreed to this on the condition that it must be kept secret and no one will know of this 'experiment'. I am not to be involved in any kind of medical journal as a specimen, that I shall provide you with the perfect specimen you may write about in any journal you wish. Now will you both excuse me."

They watched him exit hurriedly from the room and turned to peer back at one another. "He is talking about the one that made him. So that one must be here. Then we can use the two specimens and you could easily use the other one for your theories and I can use Mr. Collins."

Eric held up his hand then reached for Julia's hand and pulled her close to him and looked deeply into her eyes. "My dearest Julia, one thing at a time. Let us test our theories on Mr. Collins first and then we can use the other specimen as our topic for the paper we will write. You and I will be famous and then prove to those that found our ideas ridiculous that they are the fools." Julia smiled and leaned her head against his broad chest.

"Yes of course you are right Eric. Now shall we get busy, we want to get on this first thing tomorrow."

Collinwood drawing room

Quentin sat slumped in the chair and was enjoying his nice warm buzz from the brandy. Carolyn had slipped out for the night to go into town, David was in bed, and Roger had called to say he would be late at the cannery but the sound of a giggling female could be heard in the background. Liz had retired early and that left Quentin alone in the drawing room listening to a hauntingly sweet tune on the radio and smiled while he studied his whiskey in his hand. The door was thrown open and a very upset Trask stormed into the room. "Short date?" He observed that Trask was alone and looked around and waited for Vicki to enter the room.

"She is not coming in that door Quentin do you know why?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Collinwood drawing room

Quentin smirked and sipped his drink, "Because she found you to be a big bore and that you wanted to get close to her money and not her?"

"No because our contact in Bucharest had her as his guest or will have her sometime tomorrow night!" Trask waited and watched his face when he said their friend in Bucharest. That caused Quentin to slid up and nearly spill his drink.

"What the hell do you mean our friend you mean that fool that likes to be referred to as Knightwing? What the hell is she doing with him?"

"She was kidnapped you idiot, from our date by Newland and Richards, and then Mircea called the hotel to tell me he was going to hold her until he got the artifact." Quentin stepped to the fireplace and looked into the fire, he had not expected this and this was throwing off his plans to get the artifact duplicated. "He says once he has the artifact we can have Vicki back."

From the open foyer doorway, a deeply troubled voice spoke with a degree of anger and urgency. "What about Miss Winters?" Both men turned and stared at the very distinguished looking man in the perfectly groomed dark suit and wearing a Inverness Cape. He held the distinctive looking silver wolf head cane in his hand as he looked with authority and demand to the two men.

Quentin was the first to recover and smiled offhandedly, "Well you must Cousin Barnabas and I see what they mean by saying you look just like the original Barnabas, I see the Collins blood has a persistent strain and reproduces look alike over and over." Quentin laid the whiskey goblet on the mantle and turned to study his cousin. He was very proud and very irritated as he stepped forward with force into the room and went straight to Trask and put himself nose to nose with him.

"I asked, what about Miss Winters? Now I must insist you respond to me now." He was laying his cane on the side of the sofa, whipping his cape off. He was running out of patience and his cousin Quentin was not helping matters by maintaining that self-satisfied smirk that Barnabas felt like slapping off his face. "I see you both are holding secrets and think you can avoid my question. How would you feel if I were to send for Elizabeth and have her be a part of this conversation?"

Quentin folded first he did not want to distress Liz or the rest of the family and now with this new wrinkle in the plans he had in place he needed to find an ally and why not another Collins. Hustling with a stretch of those long legs to the double doors to the drawing room he closed the doors and then locked them. "Well Cousin since you wish to become a part of this venture you might as well sit down and hear us out. It could be a matter of life or death of your little love interest."

Barnabas stiffened and looked with disdain from Quentin to Trask. "I fear that the feelings are not returned, or she obviously would not have found herself in your care and you seemed to have managed to enmesh her in something that has from what I surmise put her in danger?" Trask did have the good grace to lower his gaze and turned to the fireside chair and slump into it.

"I need a drink Quentin." His voice was low and filled with remorse he sat and waited for Quentin to get him a drink and then explain to the man across from them why Vicki Winters was on her way to Bucharest. Quentin studied Trask, while he poured Trask a glass of whiskey and then himself another brandy and turned to Barnabas.

"Drink?"

Barnabas shook his head and sat waiting for them to explain what was going on. "I don't imbibe this late in the evening. I am waiting patiently for an explanation as to why Victoria is not in this house with you Mr. Trask."

Quentin stepped to the Trask and sat the glass on the table next to him and then turned back to the fireplace. "Well he is not going to tell you because he has a client and it's a lawyer thing about client confidentiality, so it is up to me." Quentin took a long drink and then set on the bench in front of the fire and studied his glass.

"Well nothing for it but just start at the beginning. It all began in Egypt about six months ago. I was there doing research for a new book about the occult and black arts, where I was trying to confirm the existence of the ankh of eternity. Something I always thought was a myth. It is said that to possess it with the book of the dead you can live forever as human and in human form without suffering the advance of age or infirmity, it can also reverse death on some individuals." Quentin stood and paced back to the bar and poured himself another drink. "The object is very dark and filled with incredible power. So, I continued to follow the leads that I had gained from my father, god rest his soul," This said with irony lifting the glass to drink. "I found it, it was being hidden in a display of ancient artifacts taken from a recently excavated tomb of what might have been Ankhesenamun, it was thought that Tut was studying a way to bring back his mother before his own death. I found the ankh and secured it."

Quentin lifted his glass and downed the liquor and sighed. "But in the process, I also discovered another was trying to locate the ankh, I also discovered he already had the book of the dead. So, I brokered a deal with him, he could have it if he would allow me to have access to it once he was done with it. Well he was not so receptive so I became elusive and came home."

"Thereby involving Vicki in your chicanery and getting her in trouble to possibly being killed." Barnabas surmised dryly while he sat and listened and grew cold with the place his thoughts were going. If what Quentin was saying was the truth then Vicki was in serious trouble and unless they did as they were instructed then Vicki's life on this earth would be short lived. "So now what do we do gentlemen?"

Greg sighed deeply, "I just know they mean to send her to the client's home in Bucharest and they will hold her until he gets the ankh that is being shipped fourth class mail from Egypt. Quentin had it shipped here under his pen name of Grant Douglas." Barnabas shifted his gaze and looked through Quentin and for a moment Quentin was certain he could see the truth of what he really was.

"Then I suggest you do as you are told Cousin Quentin and deliver the ankh to the client so we may see Victoria safely returned home to us all."

"No so fast cousin, you do not realize where she is going and what will be involved and if we do as we are instructed I can assure you Victoria Winters will never be seen again at least this side of the ground."

Bucharest 

Vicki felt her world tumble and spin she opened her eyes knew this was what had been referred to as bed spins only compounded ten times. The taste in her mouth was horrific and the roiling stomach was worse. That coupled with the disorientation of the room spinning and it not being familiar to her she was afraid to sit up and dash to the nearest toilet to empty the contents of her stomach. Slowly she sat up and pushed her hair from her face and carefully looked around and knew immediately it was a big mistake.

Spying a room adjourning the room she was in she surmised it was a bathroom, so she rolled from the bed and hurried on unsteady feet to the door pushed it open and saw the toilet. Staggering to the toilet she bent over it and felt her stomach revolt only to dry heave. "Oh dear god just let me die now." She moaned softly. Again her stomach revolted and again she dry heaved into the toilet and tasted the bile in the back of her throat. Slumping down to the floor she hugged the toilet seat and waited and again her stomach erupted, only to allow her to dry heave into the toilet.

Crawling to the sink, she pulled herself up and then felt someone heft her up and steady her against the sink basin. "Easy my dear it will pass soon enough and then you will feel better when we put some food on your stomach." The voice was kind and soft and definitely male and she really was conflicted between being grateful for the kindness being shown or being really mad at being in this position because of him or someone he was associated with that brought her to this strange room. She reached with trembling fingers to the faucet and turned the cold water on. Watching it flow from the gold cast faucet she waited and then cupped her hand into the flow of water and brought it to her mouth and rinsed the nasty taste that the last bout of bile being emptied from her stomach through her mouth. She heard the toilet flush and then heard another faucet being run and felt tender fingertips pushing her hair out of the way of and a cold cloth being placed on her neck. "Now take it easy Cheri, soon enough the disorientation and the nausea will pass."

Vicki felt her throat was dry and raw from her last bout of dry heaving and allowed the gentle hands lead her with the support of a strong body back to the bedroom. "Perhaps you should stay in the bed for now until you get your land legs back. Sodium Pen Athol can be very nasty after such a strong dosage." Vicki gladly crawled back on the bed and laid her head down on the goose down pillow. Closing her eyes she wanted to cry because she knew she was in serious trouble. The kind hands and gentle voice spoke with a heavy English accent so she knew it was not his native tongue. Covering her back up, she realized that she had been shivering violently.

Feeling the bed depress from the weight of someone sitting, she felt the hands gently massage her shoulders and arms trying to help warm her from the violent chills. "This too will pass my dear, give it time." She wanted to open her eyes but her vision was so blurred that she was sure of one thing, she was not dead and she wished she were with Barnabas as bad as she was feeling. "That is right close your eyes and go back to sleep, when you awaken again, you will feel tired but a bit better than this."

Vicki fought the need to close her eyes and tried to focus but the medication she had been given was far stronger than her own free will. So, she closed her eyes. Then she heard the words from a distance. "What do you know of Quentin Collins or Grant Douglas.?"

"I know he is a cousin to my employers Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard and Roger Collins. He has a pen name of Grant Douglas." Again there it was that soft gentle voice speaking to another.

"It is working again Baron, do you wish to question her?" The soft kind voice was now speaking to another. The voices were so soft that she could not make them out lying in her semi state of consciousness and unconsciousness. "What is your association with Trask?"

"He is a sadistic zealot that should be hung or burned at the stake as he has done those poor innocent girls he had tried for witchcraft! I will never be his lover or anything else! I would rather die than be with him!" The mention of Trask's name had brought up old memories of her trip into the past. So much that Vicki in absolute fear sat up and stared into the distant past and saw her self chained in the cellar of the old house facing the monster that had been Reverend Trask.

This response sent a spatter of an exchange of confusion and words of an unknown country back and forth between the two men in the room with the lovely young woman. "Witchcraft? Why are you speaking of witchcraft in the 20th century?"

Vicki shivered violently. "Are you mad man? That will get you arrested for witchcraft, but they can never know that I am from the 20th century or Trask will have me hanged. " The kind voiced man shifted to sit next to Vicki on the bed and put both hands on her shoulders to peer into her terror stricken eyes, from the foot of the bed another man with piercing dark eyes that glowed intensely with a fever of his own studied the young girl on the bed.

"A past life?" He queried from the inquisitor.

"I am not so certain, she is speaking as if she were there in the past but from this time." He gently laid her back down and spoke again. "There, there my chéri," His voice soft and soothing he continued, "Do not be afraid you shall have nothing to fear from Trask, why are you talking about witchcraft? What year is it for you?"

Vicki turned her gaze and looked with open honesty for under such a strong dosage of this particular truth serum she had no choice but to speak the truth. "Why it is 1796, I have traveled back to this time and I don't know why I am here unless it is to save the Collins family from the witch's curse."

"She is insane Klaus! You did something wrong with that drug, give her more she is lying!" The voice was angry and near insulting speaking harshly from the foot of the bed.

"If she is lying then you question her about what happened in the United States during that time, if she was in that time she would not know some details of some events and you should know them since you lived during that time and were there, Alexandru. So, you question her."

Alexandru exchanged places on the bed and took Klaus spot, as he looked down into one of the most innocent and pure faces and into eyes that looked as if they lived through the fear of the witch trials during that time frame. A man of medium build and sharp handsome features peered into the innocent drug induced gaze of the woman in front of him. He took his hand and gently caressed her face. "Tell me my dear, tell me of the truth of how Jeremiah Collins died?"

Vicki blushed and lowered her lashes and a tear slid down her cheek to rest on the end of her jawline. "He was killed in a duel between him and Barnabas Collins. He had found Josette in Barnabas' arms and knew they had become lovers. So he challenged Barnabas to a duel. I distracted Jeremiah and his shot went wide and it was I that was struck by his bullet. Barnabas fired and hit him in the heart and he died instantly. Joshua did not wish to have his family's dirty secrets exposed so he told every one it was a hunting accident and Jeremiah had been shot accidently."

"Where were you shot?" he watched her for the answer and her hand lifted to clutch her arm.

She sighed softly. "Here." Holding her arm.

Klaus lifted her hand and rolled up her sleeve of the blouse and saw the wound left by the gunshot. Alexandru studied her face closely and then lifted her hair from her face and it was his turn to look shocked. "By all that was holy to me, she was there, the mysterious girl that appeared out of now where. The one that the evil Trask had designs on. But how is this possible?" He stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

Klaus turned to look at his employer and frowned, then he went to sit by Vicki on the bed and continued with the questioning. "Victoria Winters how did you travel to the past?" He watched her carefully to make sure she did not have some natural resistance to the drug while he continued to question her. He studied her watching her brow furrow giving the appearance she were trying to reason out the impossible and make it plausible because she had lived it.

"I am not sure, I know we had a séance and then the lights went out and I was in the middle of an unpaved road. Then I was at the Collins Family Old House and was very frightened. Abigail Collins was sure that a witch was practicing her dark evil at the estate and she suspected that I was a witch along with Phyllis Wycke. Poor Phyllis was arrested for witchcraft but she died. Her lover or fiancé was devastated by her death."

Alexandru stepped to the bedside and pushed Klaus out of the way. "What was the name of the poor fiancé'?" His eyes were filled with a feverish need to hear the name." He watched her and waited to hear the name of the man he had hated for the last two hundred years.

"His name was Peter Bradford, he was very much in love with poor Phyllis. It is odd though . . . " Her voice trailed off she got a distant almost contemplative look to her features while she processed her thoughts.

"Go on what are you thinking?" Alexandru had grown feverish as she had spoken the name he had hated through these many years and was sorry he had never had a chance to kill the man himself. He watched her gaze cloud she appeared to be trying to go back to her sleep. "I said go on with your thought."

Blinking her eyes, Vicki looked at the handsome man and then smiled, "Oh, yes, well there is a man in Collinsport that looks very much like Peter Bradford only his name is Jeff Clark. He even sounds like him. He has been paying courtship to Carolyn and seems to be nice but he makes me feel uncomfortable."

Alexandru sprang up and began to pace furiously back and forth again. "Do you think it is possible that man still lives?" He looked to Klaus bouncing his thoughts off of the man he paid to get him answers. Klaus sat down on the bed and looked down at the tired features of a woman he had come to admire from her endurance to hold out as long as she did before a stronger dose of truth serum broke down the résistance.

"Victoria, I want you to think very hard. Now you knew Peter Bradford and you know Jeff Clark are they same man."

"Yes, I think they are but I don't know how that is possible. Peter lived in 1796 and it is 1967." Her words spoken so simply would tend to give the impression she was delusional to think such a thing, but with what Klaus knew and what he had lived through himself he would be open to about anything.

Klaus looked at Alexandru and then he asked softly, "Do you think this is something our most endeared one has done? Do you think Angelique's hand was involved in this?"

"Oh yes, Angelique was there and she seemed to have an unhealthy interest in Barnabas and in Peter, she disappeared about the same time Peter did." Vicki had filled in the missing piece and then made Alexandru smile with a unhealthy glint of rage and hatred in his manner.

"There you have it Klaus, she just confirmed Angelique was there at Collinwood. So, maybe we need to try and locate her, if she is there and this Jeff Clark is there, you should notify the surveillance team to see if they can locate her and Clark and tag them and bring them to me."

"What of Collins and Trask?" Klaus question he sat next to Vicki on the bed and she frowned and began to mutter softly.

"I was hoping he was falling in love with me. But I think he loves his past more than he loved me." Both men shot looks back and forth to each other and looked back at the woman that was slowly drifting off into a deep sleep.

"Do you think she is speaking of Clark or Collins?" Klaus questioned Alexandru.

"Ask her, and see how she responds." Alexandru was very interested in this question and its response.

"Victoria, who did you have affections for, Jeff Clark or Collins?" He watched as she rubbed her cheek against the pillow and sighed deep and the tenure of her voice was drifting on a sea of painful regrets.

"He was so helpful to me during the time we thought Burke was missing and then when word came they had recovered his body and he was really dead, I found I was becoming more dependent on him. It was his kindness and his attentiveness to my needs to be reassured I would be fine with his death. Then he grew distant and I knew he was growing tired of holding my hand and well . . . " Her voice drifted to a soft sigh.

"Victoria, I promise you can sleep in a moment who was it that was kind and who was Burke?" Klaus pushed while both men anxiously waited for the words to come.

"Oh Barnabas Collins of course, but I thought I loved Burke Devlin and then questioned that love when I felt those deep feelings for Barnabas." She let her voice drift more. With that bombshell dropped both men looked at Victoria and then to each other.

"This is Devlin's business partner?" The question was incredulous at either their counter intelligence group had missed or they were living life right and now had the other half of their problem in their hands and it was all by happenstance. Klaus turned back to Victoria and studied her carefully. The outer shell shouted virginal sacrifice, the words spoken was devious diva. How could they have missed this one important part of the link? They had been trying through Trask and through Devlin Enterprises attorneys to get the name of the new C.E.O. and now they had her in their very hands.

"Klaus do you realize what we have done?" Alexandru was nearly full of himself with his giddiness thinking he now had the last part of the puzzle solved and would soon be immortal and bring back his beautiful Phyllis to rule with him. He laughed and it was glee filled with triumph.

He would have hugged himself had he thought it would not have looked too foolish, but his happiness was being delivered ten fold to him he looked at the now sleeping woman that lay in a bed of his design and choosing. "I think we have reason to celebrate. Allow her to sleep if we need more information then I will have you administer more drugs and we shall see what Newland and Richards finds for us."

Klaus looked at the lovely young girl and sighed deeply, it was going to be a horrible waste to kill her. If he continued to administer the drugs she could very well die. "Sleep now Victoria, sleep and dream the dreams of ages and a lifetime." Alexandru frowned he listened to the man he had hired to do his bidding. 

"Why do you care what happens to this woman?" Alexandru walked to the door, he had the business partner of Devlin Enterprises here and once he found out what Devlin had done with the special crystal ball he had found in that antique shop he would have all the puzzle pieces to go ahead and secure his life as a god. It was not enough that he had the portrait painted by Petofi's man Charles Delaware Tate. He had the portrait that had given him immunity to death and the curse from which he suffered. He wanted to have it all, and that would be a life for eternity with the woman he loved from the day he met her on that train trip to Collinsport and a place called Collinwood.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

1796 Alexandru's memories

Alexandru had lived a century as it was and he had grown tired and bored and then she came into his life. A fresh breath of air and innocence and he had to follow her to this god-forsaken place so far north into the wilds of the new territory. There he had met and watched in despair while she became enamored of this man Bradford and he had learned to hate and this fueled his need to outlive all of them and to claim his beautiful Phyllis.

He had planned to help her escape the goal when Trask had made his move to bring her to trial but he had not taken her to the jail but had her sequestered somewhere he could not find. He had grown desperate and had watched Trask and noticed he had grown fond if not lustful for the strange young woman that just appeared out of nowhere at Collinwood, a woman named Victoria but he had never known her last name. Tonight, if he had been a gambling man would have been considered a jackpot winner.

Walking down to the main gallery of his home, he looked up at all his ancestors that were now dust to dust and he paused in front of the one portrait he had Tate paint from a lithograph he had of Phyllis. It was unfortunate that the portrait came too late because he had learned that Phyllis had died, she had been killed and left for nothing more than flotsam upon the surf of the great Atlantic. He remembered how the anguish of loosing her had been the catalyst for him to find a way to bring her back and to find immortality but not at the risk of loosing or destroying a picture that now grew more hideous with each passing year and each passing dark deed he had done.

Turning when Klaus entered the room he smiled, "Now we find out what happened to that crystal ball, we get the information that is hidden in the depths of the base, we put it with the book of the dead and the ankh and we all can be living gods and nothing can stop us from having or doing what we want."

Klaus frowned, "Then I would ask for one thing from you my lord Mircea, I ask for the life of Victoria Winters to do with as I see fit." Alexandru strolled to the whiskey decanter and lifted it to pour himself a drink and paused in the task. He studied the cut crystal and the deep amber liquor inside and then turned to his friend.

"Why? She will be of no use to us once we have what we seek with the crystal ball and the ankh we have the book of the dead none of them are of any use without the other. So when you could have whatever your heart desires or any number of women, experienced women in this world why her?"

Alexandru poured a drink and held the glass, turning to stand next to Alexandru's side. Taking the drink he too studied the liquid then sipped it and smiled, "Because I desire it. Is that not a simple enough reason? It is rare to find someone that is as pure and innocent as this one and you want to destroy it?"

Alexandru took his drink and strolled to the nearest comfortable chair and sat down then looking at his friend over the top of his glass. "You want or desire her?" He was using that soft contemplative voice.

Klaus smiled, "I want to test her and see how much she can remember from how she traveled back in time. Think about it Alexandru if you could go back in time to that hour before your beloved died, if you could stop her death and then the portrait was painted and she could be as you invincible and now facing this time together you would not need to use the book of death. You could reverse the book to the book of life. You could easily then take the words that would be needed to transmute your life and hers into what you want as god and goddess."

Alexandru studied his friend and then set his glass down. "That is true but we would need to duplicate the situation as it was that night she found herself thrown back in time. We would also need to know if it is only she that is capable of dong this time travel or if others can travel with her." Klaus smiled he could see he had a chance to save her even if it meant sending her back in time to certain death or worse to be given over to that letch Trask.

"I realize that it would take some research we would need someone from the séance that was with her that night to help duplicate the way they had performed it and see what happens. I suppose I could contact an old College Professor friend of mine that ironically has returned to teach in Portland Maine not far from where he apparently grew up. I do know he has Emeritus status where he is at this time."

Alexandru smiled and looked at his glass and lifted it with a hint of a smile to his lips. "You would of course be speaking of our dear colleague Elliott Stokes?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I am. It might be worth a trip to Portland to speak with him to see if he knows about this séance or anything like it. He has been diligently pursuing the interests he had when he came here to research your family tree."

Alexandru actually frowned when he thought about the blight that author; Bram Stoker had put on his family with his silly innocuous book about of all things vampires. Everyone with any degree of intelligence knew they did not exist. There was no such thing as the living dead and to think so was obviously a one-way ticket to the nearest insane asylum. "Yes, well he found out what a hoax and load of malarkey that was."

Klaus shook his head while he now studied the large fire in the over sized fireplace. "I know but it made for some interesting conversations. Elliott had some fascinating theories. Now I suppose you wish me to contact the surveillance team and bring them back here?"

Alexandru sipped his drink then leaned back and closed his eyes. "No, leave them in place we do not need any unexpected surprises from Mr. Quentin Collins ne' Grant Douglas, or that poor excuse for a lawyer Trask. We will give your young woman a reprieve for now, once she looses her usefulness then she will be eliminated."

Klaus smiled and sipped his drink. At least for now he had gained a reprieve for the young innocent that lay in the bedroom up stairs. He was curious to see how they were going to try and break the code to time travel with her and duplicate the trip she had taken. Then another more disturbing thought entered his mind. "Angelique?" He said the name with a degree of distastes and annoyance as if the thought of her interference was more than a crinkle in this web of deceit they had begun to weave.

Alexandru had forgotten about her as well he sat sipping his drink. "Ahh yes, the delectable and delicious Miss Bouchard. Perhaps we should put a team on her if she is back in Collinsport from which I heard she was and then they may be able to find that scamp Bradford and then I can kill him myself!" This made him smile thinking about disposing of Bradford and Angelique.

Klaus finished his drink stood and walked towards the communications room. "Consider it done my lord." He did a lavish bow and disappeared behind the door.

Collinwood drawing room

Barnabas was not happy. As a matter of fact Barnabas was filled with outrage and anger. He was not going to allow this set back in his plans to stop him from getting what he wanted and he wanted Vicki as Josette in his house, in his arms, and in his bed. The complete incompetence of the two men that now stood dumbfounded in front of him was secondary to what he had just learned from Carolyn, who had accidently walked in on their conversation.

Quentin found it ironic that she just happened to know where the key was to unlock the door and her excuse of saying she thought the doors were accidently locked a bit flimsy she opened the door to an astonished looking group of the boys club. "Well, I see that there was a reason for the doors being locked. I told you David that they were not accidently locked." She breezed into the room with not a care in the world while David stood glaring at the two men that dominated the center of the room.

"Why is he here." David pointed an accusing finger at Barnabas. "You should not be here you hurt Vicki's feelings and that is why she went out with him." He nodded to Trask then turned an accusing look on Trask. "Which reminds me is what Sarah said true has Vicki been kidnapped by some very bad men?"

"What?" Carolyn spun in anxiety glaring at David for a further explanation.

"She has decided to spend the night in Portland David, she um hurt her ankle and we are going to check on her shortly." Trask lied.

"Hurt her feelings? What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Quentin glared at Barnabas

"Hurt her feelings? How David was I suppose to have hurt her feelings?" Barnabas was starting to get the idea he now knew why Willie had looked so guilty when he had called him earlier.

Of course all of this outrage was uttered in one cacophonous sounding rabble as the four adults drew together to look with concern, anger, and confusion to David. After the chaos was over they all had fallen silent. Quentin was the first to break the uncomfortable silence between them once the outbursts of indignation and confusion passed. "Just who is this Sarah you are speaking of young man?"

David looked at Barnabas and then back to Quentin, "She is his sister and she said that Barnabas hurt Vicki's feelings but did not mean to." He turned those accusing dark brown eyes on Trask and continued, ". . . and that you were in Portland and some men that work for an evil man took Vicki and put her on a plane and she is on her way to Romania. They put a needle in her and made her sleep." David folded his arms and glared at Trask.

Carolyn turned to get herself a drink and poured out a healthy portion of whisky in a glass and then turned and handed it to Trask. "I think you need this more than me, you look a bit green and pale."

Barnabas looked to his cousin and asked, "How did I hurt Vicki's feelings David?" David turned his back and spoke to the entry doors of Collinwood. "I don't think I want to tell you. I heard her talking to Carolyn and then I asked Sarah about it and she said that Vicki's feelings were hurt."

Carolyn rolled her eyes and sighed turning again to pour herself another whiskey and drank it down quickly then turned with an over bright smile as the hard liquor hit her quickly. Then she turned and walked to David. "Go on up to your room, I will sort this out."

David looked at her dubiously and sighed with a dramatic heave of his shoulders and let his arms dangle to his side. "Well I really want to hear what they plan to do to get Vicki back."

Carolyn took a long protracted breath then through clinched teeth she said, "David, I said go on up to your room. I will find out and I promise before I go to bed will come up and tell you." Her words were firm but held a softness that was coated by the affects of the alcohol. "Now off to bed with you." She bent to kiss his forehead and patted his back.

Reluctantly he started to move, stopped then glanced up to the balcony landing of the grand staircase, there he saw Sarah and she smiled and waved to him. Without another word he bounded to the steps and up them. Carolyn glanced up to where his attention had been draw and saw nothing. She turned glad he did not wish to argue further and moved back into the room with the men.

"Well it is not every day a girl gets to share the room with three very handsome men that seemed to be conspiring and I have a feeling it is not about me. So, now then gentlemen shall we be frank and just start getting it out? What is going on and don't lie I can tell a lie from two blocks down the road." Carolyn stepped to the fireside wing back chair and sat looking at the three men that had somehow managed to group together.

"I want to know how I was suppose to have hurt Vicki's feelings?" Barnabas was waiting in his mind he could see him gong back and thoroughly thrashing Willie within an inch of his life as worthless as it was. He watched the blond budding beauty in front of him and getting impatient with the way she flicked her eye lashes and looked up at him over the top of her drink then took a long sip and set it back in her palm, allowing the tension in the room to grow with each passing second she delayed in her explanation.

"I will say this Barnabas if you had done to me what you did to Vicki this morning, I would have found you to be unworthy of my attention and rated you as a class 'A' Jerk. The very nerve of you to show up here after you did what you did this morning and using poor Willie the way you did!"

Barnabas was now about to throttle the girl sitting there getting tipsy on a drink she was far to young to imbibe and now she dared to accuse him of something he was not guilty of and then to throw in that silly lout Willie as a poor fellow. He lowered his voice and then he commanded, "Carolyn, look into my eyes." Carolyn lifted her lashes and peered at him. Entering her mind at this age was no real challenge he could easily command and demand from her. After getting her attention he spoke softly, "Now, again, what was I alleged to have done to Miss Winters this morning?" His words were velvet and soft and it was now the attention of the other two males in the room watching the subtle change of control switch from Carolyn to Barnabas.

Carolyn spoke in a soft voice of subservience responding to him. "She said she went to the Old House this morning to speak to you about something and that Willie said you had already left and that she knew you were standing behind the door and was avoiding her. She thought that you were growing tired of her needing your help or she was putting an imposition on you. That you must have grown tired of it and was avoiding her."

Silently Barnabas fumed, that buffoon Willie had done something to give her the impression he was hiding behind the door and he surely must have done it on purpose. "I see, thank you Carolyn." Turning he moved with controlled effort to his coat and started to put it on. "Gentlemen, I am returning to the old House, in the mean time you both will figure out where Miss Winters has been taken then you will join me at the old house where we can discuss this further without interruption."

Quentin studied Carolyn who now looked to be in a trance, Trask too was noting the girl's odd behavior sitting stiffly looking ahead focused on nothing in particular. Quentin waved his hand in front of Carolyn's non-blinking eyes. Then looked at Barnabas then to Trask in askance. "How the hell did you do that?" Quentin muttered and peered back to his cousin.

Barnabas adjusted his coat, flipping the collar up and turned his gaze over the men then looking at Carolyn he spoke again, "Carolyn you are tired, you will go to David, tell him Miss Winters is fine, that she will be home soon, then you will go to bed and you will sleep when you awaken you will remember nothing more than what you learned prior to this moment."

Carolyn stood put her glass down and walked from the room. Trask and Quentin were both astounded by how effectively he had placed her in a trance and then taken over her control. "You have got to teach me that sometime." Quentin said with a rakish smile. Barnabas turned his gaze to Quentin he was not amused with the man that had put the woman he wanted in peril. "I would suggest you both exchange your information on what you know to make sure nothing is left out at our meeting and I will expect you in no less than an hour at my home. Until then good eve to you both."

With a flourish of his cape, he whisked out of the door and closed it with a resounding harshness that allowed the slam of the door to react and reverberate through the foyer. "Wow, that is one commanding man and he looked pissed." Trask crudely observed. Quentin moved to slump into the chair Carolyn had previously occupied.

"He did not use the standard tricks for hypnotic suggestion he used a form of the dark arts to take over her will. Did you see how quickly she submitted to him?" Quentin had observed sitting and then studied the fire. "Well what all happened this evening when you left here Trask and leave nothing out and then I will allow you in on my own little secrets and I guess then we will be prepared to meet with my estimable cousin to see how we might be able to secure Miss Winters safe return."

Old House

Barnabas walked up to the front entrance of the Old House and noticed that Drs. Hoffman and Lang were no longer in the house and this made what he was about to do even better to not have witnesses. Slamming open the door, Barnabas stood in a full out rage and bellowed, "WILLIE! WILLIE!" He stormed into the drawing room gripping his cane tightly and called out yet again, "WILLIE!" Then he heard him, scrambling up the stairs from the basement.

"Yeah! I am here Barnabas what is wrong?" Willie skidded to a halt in the drawing room and saw that he was in an out and out fit of rage. "B B Barnabas?" He stuttered looking into the smoldering gaze of his boss.

"What did you do this morning Willie, after I had retired?" What did you say to her when she came looking for me?" Barnabas advanced on Willie lifting his cane, "I said what did you say to her! What did you do to make her think I was hiding from her?" He drew his cane up and slammed it hard into Willie's head sending him sprawling on the floor.

"Barnabas, I didn't tell her anything except you had already left and I was leaving too. I didn't do nothin!" He whimpered and curled into a ball to prevent the cane from hitting the more tender parts of his body. Barnabas lowered the cane with a resounding thwack hitting him again and again until the rage had passed and saw the man cowering on the floor in a ball whimpering pain. He kept crying, "I didn't do nothin! I didn't I swear I didn't!" He had his arms covering his head and was curled into a ball.

Barnabas looked down at the man on the floor bleeding from a head wound he had created with the first blow to his head. "Get up!" Willie looked up with eyes wide with fear and confusion, the blood soaking into his t-shirt and shirt. "I said get up." His voice was so low and filled with controlled rage that he had to turn away from the pathetic man. Willie scrambled to the table against the stairs and pulled himself up to stand and tremble in tears before the outraged monster that had nearly killed him. Barnabas reached for his shirt collar and pulled him up to face him almost nose to nose. Willie's eyes widen and his bottom lip quivered his body shook with fear. He was terrified but even now as afraid he might be, death would almost be preferable to what he was afraid was about to happen.

"YOU! You made her think I was hiding from her behind the door and it hurt her Willie! It hurt her badly enough that she left here met up with Trask accepted a date, went on that date and is now being held by some mad men in another country. Why Willie?" His voice had started out harsh and loud then dropped to a low level.

"I, I, I, don't know Barnabas she wanna ta see you, an you had just gone down stairs and I wanted to get to the errands so I was kind of nervous that she might come in and find you, so I just told her you left, you had just left." He was shaking so bad he was afraid he was about to wet himself.

Barnabas threw him over to the chair in front of the fireplace. "FOOL!" Willie hit the chair and nearly toppled it. It rocked dangerously back and then settled skewed to the way it had originally been set. "Go clean your self up and then come back down here, we are having guests and we are going to find Miss Winters and we are going to bring her home, no thanks to you." Barnabas watched him rise with a great deal of difficulty and then realized how badly he had clocked him with his cane.

Sighing deeply Barnabas extended his arm, pulling his sleeve back bitting into his wrist and took his two fingers smearing them with his blood and walking to Willie he smeared the blood on his open wound, and then he pressed his wrist to Willie's lips. "Taste it." Willie pushed against the bleeding wrist and found it would not budge and touched his lips to Barnabas' wrist. The taste was bitter and salty. Willie slumped back and closed his eyes.

"Now, get up go clean up and prepare a decanter of whiskey, and a decanter of brandy. Bring them to the library and leave them on my desk, now go. Get out of my sight and do not let me see you again tonight, or you may not be so lucky next time." Willie's vision cleared and he lowered his chin and his eyes to the floor.

"Yes Barnabas." Willie spoke softly, got up slowly, and then staggered with trembling legs towards the basement door. "Um the doctors selected a room and are sending over equipment tomorrow." He noted that there was no response from the bastard as he limped towards the door. Stopping he turned to look back at the monster that had done more unspeakable things in his lifetime than Willie could count.

"Yes, Willie?" His voice was soft and controlled with anger his eyes bore a hole into Willie's form. "You have a question, ask it." He watched the pathetic display of human kind before him and was repulsed by his cowardice and weakness. "I am waiting Willie ask."

Willie dropped his eyes and when he was very afraid his bottom lip would quiver uncontrollably. "I was just, well wanting to say, I am sorry. I was not tryin' to hurt her, no one should hurt her." He turned and his shoulders heaved with his pent up emotions he continued on more steady legs towards the basement to get the two bottles of vintage whiskey and brandy. For a moment a miniscule moment Barnabas almost felt sorry for Willie.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Old House drawing room

"Very well Willie, I accept your apology, now do as I say and go to bed. I do not wish to see you any more tonight." Barnabas straightened his sleeve and did not bother to look at his wrist he knew it was already healed he noted Willie's forehead was healed. He was still very put out with the boy and would deal with him later on his lack of courtesy to the woman that would become Barnabas' bride. Turning to the bay window he stood and peered out, something Willie had seen him do often. Though he stood and looked sour, Willie suspected that he was lost in thought and not really looking out that window. Walking a little less painfully down the stairs he held his dark thoughts about Barnabas to himself. He went to do the monster's bidding and that was find the two bottles of liquor he had been instructed to get.

The whole time he was in that basement he avoided the room that held the coffin and thought only of Vicki and where she might be and what might happen to her and a wave of guilt washed over him. He ambled down the hallway with the two bottles and paused at the door of the cell that had held Maggie when she was here. For a moment he was transported to that time and could still hear her weeping in sorrow the first two days, then she went down hill doing all that crazy talk. Walking quickly past that room he skittered on down the hallway and took the servants door up to the kitchen and paused. There was his dinner now cold and the eggs coagulated with grease. "Shit," He muttered softly he went and opened the back door and threw the eggs and bacon out into the cool night air. "Bastard won't have to kill me, I will end up starving to death before he does kill me." He muttered he shambled down the hallway to the library and set the glasses and the two bottles on the silver platter in the middle of his desk.

Backing out of the library he could hear the soft deep voices of his guests in the drawing room and he slipped back into the kitchen and opened the pantry. "Maybe the Asshole should remember that being human requires you to eat and not just suck someone dry." He muttered again he shifted the cans around and then found a bag of chips. Throwing the bag of chips back up on the shelf he rummaged around and found a can of tuna and some crackers. "Guess it is better than nothin." He mumbled walking to the table and sat down on the kitchen chair and began to open the tuna can and the box of saltines. Mentally he made a note to do some grocery shopping tomorrow after those two doctors got here to set up their lab. He was chewing the crackers when he heard Barnabas' raise his voice and this brought a smile to his lips. "_At least someone else is getting the old bastards ill temper._" He chewed and thought and then he stood to get him self a glass of water to wash down his meager meal. Finishing his meal, he walked up the servant's stairs and was halted in his progress by the transparent figure of a woman that stood at the top of the stairs. "Josette?" He could not clearly see her but knew she was a woman with long curly reddish hair; she started to weep she turned from him and drifted down the hallway and out of sight.

Old house servant's quarters

Willie rushed up the stairs and tried to follow her but she had disappeared through a door at the end of the hallway. "What the hell?" he muttered rushing down the hallway to the room, and with trembling fingers put them to the door knob and then turned the knob. The figure of the woman stood by the window looking out she continued to weep. Willie stepped into the room and spoke softly, "Um Ma'am?" He stepped towards her and she turned again to face the window and disappeared from view. "What the hell is going on?" Willie shifted around the room and then saw an old fashion and very dated drawstring purse lying on the top of the plain and simply made but beautifully preserved dresser. Stepping over to look at the purse Willie lifted it and found it was as preserved as most the furniture in the room, it held no dust to it or was dry rotted and it felt weighted, Pulling the drawstrings apart he looked inside and saw a letter, a kerchief with the letters PW embroidered on the corner, and some coins. Pulling the letter out he stepped to the hallway and into a better light to look at the writing. It was scripted with curlicues and the letter appeared to have been written by a quill. He read the opening paragraph.

_My Dearest Miss Wycke,_

_I must confess I have been unable to think of anything else but you since our meeting those two weeks ago. I find myself daydreaming and those dreams are filled with your smile, the sparkle of your eyes, which remind me of the oceans depths. Your smile is like a light of truth to my heart and your tender words are like the gentle caress of the summer breeze. . . _

Willie could not make out the rest of the letter it had appeared to been subjected to something wet and the writing had run together making it impossible to read. "Who the hell writes like that?" He muttered and then folded the letter up and tucked it back into the purse and took the coins, then he thought better of it and put the coins back, the last thing he needed was another beating by Barnabas because he stole some crummy old coins. No he would tell Carolyn about this letter, girls liked this kind of crap and he was sure she would find it all romantic or something and that would maybe give him another shot at getting her in his bed.

Replacing the purse he folded the letter and tucked it in his jacket pocket and stepped out into the hallway. Once again he could hear the heated argument going on down stairs only this time the raised voice was an unfamiliar one and he seemed to be matching Barnabas with the force of his anger in return. "Ain't your problem Willie, go to bed." He walked down the hallway to his bedroom. Kicking his shoes off by the bed and fell on it with a slight bounce and a groan from the bed. For a moment he smiled, he had made it groan with Carolyn not long ago and that had been a nice memorable night. The girl was a freak when it came to bumping the ugly with one another. With those thoughts on his mind he closed his eyes and recalled how her hair looked in the moonlight and how the moonlight complimented her body. The soft curve of her hips, the small breasts that fit his hand perfectly, and on those thoughts he fell sound asleep.

Old house library

In the library three men had squared off and it appeared that blows could come from where the conversation was going. "Sir, if I were not a gentleman I would call you out for your insult to Miss Winters and this family. As you are family I will let that comment slid for now and ask you to reframe from making such course remarks in the future and to reseat yourself."

Trask had stepped forward and spoke in even calm tones. "Gentlemen let us remember why we are here and that the very topic of this conversation is the reason we must use calm rational heads to decide how to proceed to bring Miss Winters home and in tact." Barnabas glared at Trask and found him to be not much different than his great, great grandfather that was buried in the very foundation of this house.

"Of course you are right Mr. Trask, shall we seat ourselves and try this time to not take this to such a personal level and decide how you wish to proceed in procuring the release of Miss Winters." Barnabas had turned and stepped back behind his desk, sitting in the chair, bridging his fingertips together he studied Quentin and Trask.

"The client Knightwing wants the ankh that Quentin procured in Egypt and had sent to Collinwood fourth class mail by crate." Trask had back down in his chair and crossed his elegantly dressed knee over his other knee and looked at the glowering Quentin. "I understand that Quentin is expecting its delivery within two weeks time, but from what I understood from him, he is expecting to have it duplicated and turn over the false ankh to Knightwing. That is why he took Miss Winters."

Barnabas looked with a directness that would unnerve most men but not Quentin, he glanced casually back at Barnabas and smiled but no humor was in that smile he shrugged his shoulders and said offhandedly, "It was my intention to keep the original and give him the fake, it would make no difference to him all he has the book of death but he needs the words too unite the two to perform the ceremony he hopes to succeed in performing."

Barnabas' frown deepened. "I see so you proposed to dupe the man for what purpose? What will you gain from the use of this object that has Miss Winter's life in peril?"

Quentin laughed and shook his head. "For the money, the object is worth a great deal more than what he proposed to pay for it."

Barnabas studied the top of his desk then stood, "I suggest you tell me how much more you think you shall gain by selling to an higher bidder?"

Quentin laughed, "More money than you have old boy."

Barnabas leveled his gaze directly at Quentin, "How much?"

Without batting a lash he said, "one million dollars." Barnabas sat down pulled out his drawer lifted out a brown embossed cheek book and began to write out a check. Tearing the check off he threw it on the desk. "Is that enough?"

Quentin looked at the check and his eyes widen. "My god man how much money do you have?"

"It does not matter how wealthy I am sir, it matters that the young lady in question is very dear to this family and to me, and I propose you shall turn the object over to me and present me with the artifact that will give me the bargaining power to have Miss Winters safely returned to us."

Quentin picked up the check looked at it then tore it up into small pieces and dropped them on Barnabas' desk. "No sale, the ball stays in my court and I will do the negotiation for her return."

Blue Whale next day

Newland paused in mid sip of his coffee, turned his head and fixed his gaze on the laughing woman that sat across the restaurant from him. Her dark hair accented the blue of those huge luminous eyes she sat with the dapper dressed man with a thin mustache. His dark eyes studied her with an open intensity that would consume most others but only amused his companion. Richards watched Newland while he studied their next target. "I thought she was blond." Richards offered thoughtfully and then he took another sip from his coffee cup.

"She is, she is disguised for one reason or another. I don't want to find out why, I just want to do as Knightwing instructed. Did you tell the techs what was needed?" Newland sipped from his cup sat it down then folded his hands in front of the cup. Both men had removed their dark sunglasses and where Newland's eyes were blue, Richards were brown. Both men still looked almost identical. They appeared to have been stamped from the same mold. They both continued to sit quietly in the corner and watched the two across the room.

"Oh now Nicholas do not be an old Poop. You are spoiling my victory. Peter is just a step away from becoming mine again, and you will have your army of the damned. Now drink up before Roger gets here, I am about to have a proposal made to me. Rumor had it he was at the jewelers today picking out a ring." She affectedly batted her lashes and smiled triumphantly.

Nicholas studied the pattern on the tablecloth he was cautious and for good reason and now voiced that caution. "You know Angelique you were so certain you had paid back the two men that had broken your heart, trifled with your affections, or whatever you want to call it almost two hundred years ago. I cannot help but remember that at that time you were stupid enough to curse one of them and had that curse rebound on you." He glanced up to see the color form over those high delicate cheekbones and that soft frown formed.

"Now there you go Nicholas being a party pooper again. I was angry and did not think through the wording but now after last night's success, how can I loose this time?"

"Did you forget Collins you insipient fool?" Nicholas snapped out he narrowed his gaze and studied her.

The anger in her voice caused it to go an octave higher she indignantly took exception to his calling her stupid. "No, I have not and it seems an old friend has taken care of that problem. I am sure he will be keeping himself very busy trying to rescue that meek church mouse of a girl from Alexandru."

"So you know about that do you?" Nicholas lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Angelique, "Did you forget he still has a grudge against you for what you did to him?"

"That was not personal, it was for profit and I secured a nice tidy sum for that curse. He is not the kind to want to hold a grudge. He should have thought with his brain and not the lower part of his anatomy when he made the Baroness Vercelli mad. Running off and leaving her with his child was not proper sport."

Nicholas sat back and thought about Vanessa and the angry look she bore when she discovered she was pregnant and was the wife of a sterile man. It made for an uncomfortable time at the Castle Bastel. Many servants lost limbs, fingers and in one case their head due to her ill temper. "Yes, I am sure but once again I think you have underestimated your opponent."

"He has not been seen in years and is still in Bucharest, I do not fear him. He is but a spider under my foot if he tries to interfere with my plans for Peter and Barnabas. Peter will fall first and as usual, will bring Barnabas down with him." She had leaned into the table to speak softer when the door opened to allow the manservant that was living in the old house with Barnabas entered the room.

Her alert blue eyes followed his slumped figure to the bar, where he folded himself onto the bar from his stool and spoke softly, "Bob may I please have the lunch special, and a Falstaff draft." Bob Rooney had noted that Willie had changed since going to work for the odd cousin of the Collins Family. Bob wrote down his order and then drafted his beer into a mug.

"I don't want no problems Loomis, so don't start anything." Bob's voice was soft but firm, he looked at the slumped shoulder man that had grown more gaunt and pale since he last saw him.

"I don't want no trouble either Bob, just somethin ta eat and a beer and I will be on my way." Willie had spoken softly he watched the lines of his hands. He had heard somewhere that some people could tell by the swirls and curlicues of the lines in your hands how to read your past and your future. He sat there he remembered the beating he had taken the night before by that old Bastard.

But then he had slept fine for the first three hours because he had been dreaming about what a freak Carolyn was in bed, but those dreams had slipped into a surreal world of seeing a dark hair girl, her eyes wide open, staring sightlessly into the night. Her throat had been slit, and the blood had drained into a pit to soak into the unforgiving ground that had become her bed in death. Her dark hair was no longer brushed to perfection nor did it shine. It lay matted with her blood and it stuck to her neck and face plastered there by the coagulated blood from her wound. Those lips he had once fantasized about kissing were now open frozen in a scream of pain, her supple body was now stiff and in rigor laying on the ground and its inhabitants started their process of finding food and a new home up her nose, in her ears and through that mouth frozen open in a scream of unimaginable terror.

Willie formed his hand into a fist, squeezing it and closing his eyes in shame and horror at what he had help perpetrate. He muttered "Damnit! No!" His voice was filled with disgust at how he had caused this new wrinkle in the plan of that monster that controlled his life. "_You know Loomis, you should get in your truck and just drive the hell out of this town and shake the stink and dust of it off your shoes._" He thought about this plan for just a millisecond until he felt that little nudge into his subconscious and knew it was he, feeling his hatred for the situation that he was now stuck in.

"_Oh Willie, you think you can run from me? I suppose you think I should not have beaten you last night for what your stupidity has caused_?" Willie heard it plain as day in his mind and a part of him secretly wondered if that old Bastard was actually talking to him or were those the suggestions he had put in his own mind. Glancing up he saw Bob coming back with a plate of meatloaf, corn, green beans and cornbread. Willie fished out the dollar that the meal cost and then laid another quarter out for a tip.

Bob looked at the quarter and then the dollar and pushed the quarter back. "Look Loomis if that is all you can cough up for a tip, you need it far worse then I do, so keep it." Willie wanted to snap back with a smart retort but he could not find it in him to say anything. He just nodded, pocketed the money and sat at the bar and ate his lunch.

"Pathetic isn't he? Collins has him in his thrall and the poor fool cannot break it." Angelique observed from her chair watching the young man. "I suppose some day he will be killed and his lifeless body drained and found floating in the ocean." She observed and then looked up as the door opened and a very fastidiously dressed Roger Collins breezed into the bar, paused clapped Willie on the back, wished him a fine afternoon, ordered a bottle of champagne to be delivered to the table then sashayed with a light step to the table that held Cassandra and Nicholas.

"Ahh, the beauty of the day pales to the beauty that occupies this table!" He swept her hand into his and kissed it. "I must say this day suddenly grown a lot brighter now that I am sharing this day with you my dear." He curled her fingers over his hand and kissed each finger. "You know I was just noticing what lovely long fingers you have but somehow they seemed to be lacking something."

"Oh Roger," she giggled softly fluttering her lashes and smiled into his intent face. "You are making my day complete by speaking all those lovely words." She curled her fingers gently over his hand. "Nicholas don't you think Roger is very romantic?"

Nicholas looked away and noted the two men sitting quietly in the corner drinking coffee and dressed almost identical. "I think he has more on his mind than the business of the cannery my dear." He smiled but again that smile was only superficial he turn his attention from the men and focused back on Roger.

Roger turned to Nicholas and smiled, "Well as your parents are dead and you are the head of this house, I would like to take this time to ask for your sister's hand in marriage." Roger kissed her fingers after asking Nicholas for permission to marry his sister.

"Why Roger what a surprise, well of course if my sister wishes it who am I to stand in the way of true love?" Nicholas offered with all the appropriate tones of joy and felicitations for his sister. "What say you Cassandra my dear?" Nicholas smiled and held that charm in place. "Do you accept the offer of Marriage by Roger?"

Angelique had several centuries to perfec the appropriate girls gush and first flush of love she lowered those lashes, smiled brightly and said so softly, "Oh Roger how could I not accept your kind and most generous offer, you are my inspiration for life my love. I will gladly accept your proposal and would be very happy to marry you and be Mrs. Roger Collins."

Roger reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a ring box. Bringing the box out, he let go of her hand to open it to display a perfectly cut half caret diamond ring. Taking the ring from its velvet bed, he took her left hand and slipped the ring into place and smiled. "To a new life for both of us and new beginnings that will be happy and fruitful." He leaned over and captured her lips kissing her lightly. Sitting back he smiled, "Then we must plan our wedding and set a date my dearest Cassandra."

Angelique smiled she admired the ring on her finger and could not wait to show it to Peter. She knew he would be bothered by this new twist in their new arrangement but was prepared to deal with it so that she got what she wanted and her master got what he wanted. Looking coyly over her hand she studied Nicholas and noted he had become distracted. He was watching a woman that looked very much like Josette.

A slight frown edged her brow she studied the simple looking woman that was a pale comparison to her former employer. "Who is that woman?" Nicholas asked he watched the woman step to the bar and speak softly to Bob and then nod to Willie. What caught his attention the most was the stiffening of Willie when she stood near him. The way he shifted away from her and the slump of his shoulders and the hanging of his head closer to the bar where he sat propped up on one closed fist.

Roger glanced over to the bar and spoke off handedly, "Oh that is Maggie Evans. She is the one that went missing for a period of time and then just showed up in here one night with no memory of what had happened to her." Nicholas smiled and for the first time, he was actually happy to be here in this small going nowhere fast town. "Is she friends with the Collins family?"

Roger glanced back at the animated way she was talking to Bob and then to Willie who was becoming more and more withdrawn from her. "She is best friends with Vicki, they formed an odd relationship when Vicki first arrived here in Collinsport. She is one of the local artists daughter and she is engaged to one of my employees."

The opening of the door brought Nicholas' attention to the door and there he saw a tall handsome dark haired young man with bright blue eyes and a ready smile entered the door. When Maggie turned to face the door, her eyes lit up and her smile brightened her whole demeanor. "Joe! I didn't know you were coming here?" Joe stepped to her side, bent down and kissed her cheek, which brought a sweet flush of color to her cheeks and a brighter light to her face.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Blue Whale

"Hey Loomis you going to see Barnabas sometime today?" Joe's voice was light and happy standing next to Maggie and Willie. Feeling playful Joe lightly punched Willie's arm.

Nicholas observed this brought about a whole new set of body language from Willie. Nicholas observed the flicker of agitation, then anger, and finally fear which had edged his wide eyes. Nicholas saw how they shifted back and forth then down to the table and he listened carefully Willie's response he finally lifted his gaze and looked up to Joe Haskell. The slight tremor in his voice, "Um, y y yeah, later he is in Portland today." Willie pushed the plate away from him and shifted to a defensive pose he sat sideways from Maggie and Joe. "Well, I gotta go now. "

Joe frowned, "Well do me a favor and tell him, I will deliver that wood from the old courthouse to him on Friday. I have about got it salvaged before they tear down that old firetrap."

Willie slid to a standing slump shoulder position and looked around seeing Roger Collins with two people and two men that seemed to be interested in their coffee cups he slipped towards the door. "Um y y yeah sure, I will tell him tonight when he gets home. Later, oh and Maggie g g glad to see you out and about."

"Thank you Willie, oh if you see Vicki tell her, I would love to see her sometime soon. I have not been able to get in touch with her all day."

Willie tucked his chin and shuffled to the door, Nicholas saw his hand tremble as he moved his fingers to open the door. "Yeah, if I see her sure, I will tell her." He scuttled out of the door and was gone.

"Wow, he get's more weird each time I see him. He isn't as violent as he used to be, but he almost seems to be afraid of his own shadow." Maggie observed and allowed Joe to lead her to a table and seat her.

"I know he is an odd duck that one. Well tell me what would you like to do tonight? I was thinking a ride up the coast and try out that new restaurant and maybe a movie?" Joe slipped his seafarer's jacket off and draped it over the back of his chair, Maggie sat forward and folded her hands together looking with eyes of love only for Joe.

Nicholas turned back to look at Angelique who was involved in a deep conversation with Roger, he allowed his glance to go around the room again and let it rest on the two men at the corner table. He lost interest; they seemed to be typical businessmen that worked for a company that required uniformity in dress. "Well you two. Have you set a date?" Nicholas asked with jovial overtones, affecting the guise of being happy for the new couple's exciting news.

"Yes, we have decided that we will be married tomorrow at City Hall and Roger wants you to be a witness for us. We just need another witness that can join us." Angelique was doing a great job of showing her enthusiasm for the prospect of being a new bride.

Nicholas glanced over and looked directly at the couple sitting near the jukebox. "What about one of those two?" He suggested and Roger's gaze was immediately drawn to Joe and Maggie.

"Well I suppose I could give Joe the time off, to join us at the Courthouse." Roger mused, "Let me go check." Roger stood and walked to the couple as they sat huddled together caught up with just being with each other. "Excuse me Haskell, Miss Evans."

Joe stood at Roger's approach and nodded to the man. "Hello Mr. Collins." Joe shifted uneasily on his feet in Roger's presence.

"Hello Mr. Collins nice to see you." Maggie's voice was light and happy she glanced up noting Joe looking uncomfortable and tense around Roger. Then she glanced to the table to the man and woman that sat watching them anxiously.

"I was wondering if you two would mind joining my guests and myself." He nodded to Angelique and Nicholas. "There is something I would very much like to ask one or both of you."

Joe was feeling uncomfortable, Roger had not been polite to him since his break up with Carolyn and he began to date Maggie, if anything he had been rather snobbish and insulting towards them both and now this sudden open friendliness was a little off setting to say the least. "Maggie?" Roger looked at her questioningly.

Maggie shrugged and stood slowly, "I don't see why not unless you object Joe?"

They were discussing shifting to Roger's table, Angelique hissed her irritation, "You see the resemblance don't you?" Angelique's eyes flashed her irritation. "What are you doing Nicholas?"

Nicholas smiled and his eyes were sparkling with his own thoughts of mischief he could make watching the approach of the three to their table. "Cassandra darling, Nicholas, this is Miss Maggie Evans, and her fiancé Joe Haskell, they have graciously agreed to join us. Haskell Maggie this is Nicholas Blair and his charming sister Cassandra."

Maggie and Joe both nodded to those at Roger's table and Maggie became acutely aware of the sudden tension that was building between Joe and the other occupants. "A pleasure to meet you both." Maggie smiled and felt her hand taken by Nicholas who gently lifted it to his lips and kissed . "The pleasure I am sure is mine. We are celebrating but perhaps I get ahead of myself."

Angelique once again playing her part fluttered her lashes and lowered her eyes and smiled shyly. "Well I will let Roger be the bearer of the news." She turned her affected look of shy embarrassment and open affection to Roger. "Darling will you do the honors?"

Roger smiled widely, "Yes, well allow me to say this is a joyous occasion for us all at this table, Bob dear boy would you be so kind as to bring two more glasses." Bob waned to roll his eyes. Roger Collins had never been this gooey eyed over anyone and let alone that friendly to him. Bob walked over to the table and set two glasses on the table, Roger poured the champagne into the glasses, pushing them to Joe and Maggie. "A toast if you will, may present and toast to the future Mrs. Roger Collins." Maggie and Joe were stunned they watched the three lift their glasses and wait for them to lift theirs.

"Why Mr. Collins congratulations this is rather sudden. Vicki had said nothing of this to me." Maggie lifted her glass and clinked it against the other glasses nearly sloshing it over the edge of the glass. "Congratulations to you both may you both be very happy."

"So Miss Evans Mr. Haskell, I am told we shall be celebrating a mutual event soon for you both?" Nicholas narrowed his gaze and thought to himself, "_I want her and she will not be with him. This event will be ours to share._" He watched the charming way her face tinted with color of shy but sweet embarrassment. He knew she was thinking of her impending marriage to Joe Haskell. He liked the shy smile and the sweet adoring look she gave Haskell. Nicholas knew that one day those gazes and smiles would be for him. He had fallen in lust with this woman and he wanted her and he was just as determined as Angelique to have Bradford, he would have Maggie.

"Well yes, Joe and I are waiting for a little while we both have some goals to meet before we actually set the date." Nicholas smiled a knowing smile and hid his thoughts behind a charming polite smile while he lifted the glass and sipped he studied her from over the rim of his glass.

"Pity for you to wait so long but I am sure someone as charming and as beautiful as you my dear is well worth the wait would you not agree Mr. Haskell?" Nicholas as an afterthought shifted his gaze to Joe and saw the narrowing of his eyes while he fought his jealously.

"Yes I would very much agree, and what makes me so much more fortunate to have such an understanding and caring fiancé." He reached for Maggie's hand squeezed it reassuringly and smiled. He was trying to stake his claim and showing his affection for his love.

"I would like to think it is both of our decision and I am very fortunate to have such a hard working man that is willing to wait for me to finish and graduate from college." Maggie returned the smile then looked at the others at the table.

Angelique noticed the tightening of the smile that graced Nicholas' face when Maggie defended her man to those at the table. "Well that is very convenient for you both, but we were wondering if one of you would be able to do us a very huge favor that would make us grateful for an eternity?"

She shifted her gaze away from Nicholas and looked from Maggie to Joe. "We need an additional witness for our wedding ceremony. Nicholas had agreed to be one witness and we need another."

Joe glanced to Roger and then to Maggie "Well I will be in Bangor tomorrow picking up those contracts for Mrs. Stoddard. I unfortunately will not be available." He glanced to Maggie who was looking down at the glass of champagne bridged between her hands.

"What time?" She looked up to peer at Cassandra and then Roger.

"Around 9 a.m. when the courthouse is open." Roger smiled broadly.

"Then I should be able to be there for you Mr. Collins and Miss Blair, my first class is at 10:30." Maggie smiled then lifted the glass of champagne and sipped watching Cassandra and Roger hugged again.

"Oh Excellent. Now then do not say a thing to Liz; I want this to be a total surprise for her and the rest of the family. So remember nothing of this Haskell when you go to see Liz tomorrow." Roger gave him a friendly warning, he smiled tightly and sat down. Regaining his exuberance he champagne glass for another toast. "To a happy marriage!"

Maggie lifted her glass and looked towards Joe who sat quiet and oddly withdrawn. "To a happy marriage."

Collinsport road to the Old House

Willie drove away from the Blue Whale he studied the road ahead of him, he had been glad to see Maggie, he had been happy she looked as good as she did and she seemed normal. What had bothered him was the way she spoke about Vicki. Nobody but Trask, Quentin and Barnabas knew Vicki was in grave danger. He swallowed hard and felt a sting of tears burn his eyes he thought about his dream. Blinking rapidly to clear his gaze he lifted the sleeve of his jacket and wiped his nose on the sleeve. "To hell with her! She is stupid for hanging around Barnabas. Why should I care of if she dies." But a deep part of him did care and the last thing he wanted was to be the reason she died.

"_But Willie it is your fault, you hurt her feelings and sent her off into Trask's arms all because she thought you were trying to hide me from her. Why would you do such a thing Willie? You knew how I felt; you know what I expected from you. You did not want me to hurt her, but you Willie, you hurt her." _

There was that damn voice in his head again, he shook his head and growled, "NO YOU BASTARD! IT IS YOUR FAULT" He screamed while he beat the steering wheel of the truck, which caused it to shift dangerously to the soft shoulder of the roadway and because the tries were bald, one tire blew out almost sending the truck rolling over. Willie turned off the ignition and got out, moved to the flat tire and kicked it, "Mother fuc. . . ."

From behind the soft voice of a young girl spoke, "Hello Willie." Willie turned and looked in shocked at the pretty little girl that stood watching him. "It was one fourth your fault Willie one forth Barnabas' fault, one forth Mr. Trask's fault and one forth Quentin's fault. They are all at fault for getting Miss Winters taken, but you must never make Barnabas mad again. You are going to die the next time he losses his temper with you. So, you must be patient, if the two Doctor's are successful, you will find he won't need you any more and you won't have to put up with his temper fits."

He turned back and looked at the flat tire, "Yeah but he makes me say things I don't want to sometimes and I can't help myself." He turned back and Sarah was gone. "Fine, I guess this is what they mean by bide my time?" He spoke to no one in particular and mostly to just hear himself say what he was thinking.

Blue Whale

Newland and Richards watched the happy group while they celebrated. Richards felt the pager in his pocket go off on vibrate, stood up and left the room. Newland continued to listen to the conversation and noted everyone present. When Richards returned, he nodded his head in an indication that Newland should follow him outside. Newland stood and moved by the table with the occupants and accidently bumped against Angelique's chair, and with a slight of hand, put a microphone under her collar of her coat, that laid draped over the back of her chair. With a whispered "Excuse me, I am sorry." He stepped past the table with a harsh look from Roger.

"You certainly should be sorry, you lout. You could have hurt her!" Roger's voice had grown a little louder than was necessary, and Angelique' patted his arm. Roger stood to make his point of being an over protective fiancé.

"Darling it is not necessary it was just a slight accident and I was not harmed, he merely bumped by chair." She smiled and fluttered those lashes over those large blue eyes, then shifted them with a glint of curiosity towards the man that now exited the building with his friend.

"Well he could have easily walked around, these tables are not that close together, he should have paid attention." Roger looked into those open wide blue eyes and melted with the look she washed over his features. Slowly he reseated himself.,

"I am sure he was not thinking about anything else but getting to his friend that left earlier and then came back in and signaled to him to come out side. Really Roger, you must calm yourself, you will make me think that you have no tolerance and Nicholas can tell you with me you will need a great deal of tolerance." She laughed lightly.

Nicholas shifted his head and folded his arms over his chest and chuckled softly, "Of course she does have those annoying habits of wanting to run off sometimes when things are not going her way or she feels neglected or ill used, so I warn you Roger, be prepared for her fits of emotional outbursts." He wagged a finger at his sister.

Joe and Maggie had grown uncomfortable with the sudden outburst displayed by Roger and looked from one to the other. Joe stood, "Well Maggie, I think I need to head back to the cannery. I still have some paper work to finish for this day, want me drop you off at home?" Maggie stood a little too quickly.

"Yes, please, I have some studying and a paper due tomorrow. So, I will see you all tomorrow at the courthouse around 9:00 a.m.? " Maggie slipped her coat on and smiled at the three occupants of the table.

"Of course my dear Miss Evans, we shall be at the courthouse bright and early tomorrow. I promise that it will be over before your class." Roger stood when Maggie stood along with Nicholas who took her hand one more time and kissed it.

"Until tomorrow my dear, I look forward to seeing you again." His gaze held a promise of mischief hidden behind a charming smile. Reluctantly he released her hand and sat back down watching Joe put his hand to the small of Maggie's back and escorted her to the door. Another territorial act letting Nicholas know he had staked his claim.

"Charming couple." Nicholas observed dryly he looked back at the dangerous glare Angelique was hiding behind the fall of her long lashes. Nicholas could tell she was fighting her dislike of the girl, because of her extreme likeness to Josette Collins. Which only excited Nicholas more.

Roger spoke softly, "If you like the common type. The factory worker and his waitress girlfriend."

Angelique smiled with a tense set of her lips speaking with a forced lightness. "Now Roger how can you be so unkind?" Angelique softly chided him for his unkind words. "I am sure she is a lovely young girl that has the sense to go to school to better her lot in life and you should encourage her for doing such a thing. Besides did she not just come back from a rather harsh experience?"

Nicholas added his own thoughts, "I would say she survived it rather admirably. I rather thought she looked very level headed and well grounded." Nicholas laid his elbows on the table's top and leaned forward to rest his chin on his folded hands. "As a matter of fact, I was impressed with both of them, so I think it would not be unkind to be a little more charitable Roger, I found Miss Evans an engaging beauty that was very cooperative to your needs."

Roger looked down at the glass of champagne, he had to admit when he saw Maggie he was reminded of that nasty bit of business with her father and perhaps he was taking his ire out on her instead of her father. "I suppose you are right, well enough about the local color shall we continue this wonderful celebration at Lookout Point? I have made arrangements for dinner for the three of us."

Blue Whale parking lot

Newland slid into the driver's seat, then shifted to look at Richard. "Knightwing wants Angelique brought to him in Bucharest, he also wants the alleged brother investigated."

"Did he say what he wanted done with the Brother? Should he be brought along?" Newland adjusted to sit forward in the panel truck. Newland spoke in a professionally soft voice as he leaned forward and turned the key to the ignition.

"Not at this time, he wanted Angelique ne' Cassandra taken down and brought to him. He has something special planned for her." Richards responded in the same unemotional professional tone.

"Then I guess we take her tonight and send her on just like we did with the Winters woman." Newland spoke thoughtfully. "Then we find out the location of the crate and see what Quentin Collins and Trask are up to. The Techs said that those two met at the old house, we need to get in there and put a wire in the place to see what they are planning."

Richards shook his head. "Not going to be that easy unless we break in. That place is locked down tighter than a drum and that man of his is always around. Today though he was here so maybe we put a wire on him?"

Newland shook his head. "Not an option, he is all over that house, and would not be where we would need to listen. It would be easier to put a wire in Collinwood in that great room they call the drawing room and we could easily access that room better than the old house."

Richards pondered the problem and nodded, "True but would be better off putting a wire both houses?"

Newland put the car in gear, let off the clutch gave it some gas and gently eased into traffic near the Blue Whale, "I say we do this one step at a time. We will send the techs to dart Angelique tonight, she will have to miss her wedding with Collins, and then we could pull out our ID's as Federal Agents and get access to Collinwood, under the pretense of investigating her disappearance. If we then need to wire the old house we will have access through the residents of Collinwood to force Barnabas Collins to allow us access to his house for questioning."

Richards considered the plan and thought it sounded solid. He leaned back in his seat, reached into his inside pocket pulled out his sunglasses and watched the road ahead. "This is starting to get a little convoluted with all these cross orders from Knightwing, what has him so distracted?" He murmured.

Newland also reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his sunglass and slipped them on, "I would say his obsession with that woman has him distracted."

Richards frowned, "What woman? You mean Victoria Winters?" He was confused, this is the first he was hearing of a woman that could distract such a bloodthirsty thug like Knightwing.

"No, one he knew a long time ago. It was the one woman that got away. I believe she was murdered and it broke his heart." The way Newland spoke it was almost as if he held no emotion to his whole body. He was methodical in his summation and to the point.

Out of the two men, Richards had more emotion and was prone to observe things from an emotional point of view. Which made them perfect partners in the field, where Newland was level headed, extremely methodical and overly bright, without emotion, Richards was meticulous, observant, and held his emotions in check but used them to benefit the situation when it was needed. "I suppose from this point on we observe and wait to tag Angelique." It was stated as a fact Richards let his mind wander to the last tagged victim and had found a little guilt edging his thoughts. Miss Winters had truly been a victim and did not deserve what happened, but she was part of the job and he had to ruthlessly crush his emotions where she was concerned. He allowed his mind to drift to the new job at hand and had to admit there was a piece of work that deserved what was about to happen to her.

Old House

Willie pulled into the driveway and was in a foul mood. Looking up he saw David trying to peer into the front windows, slamming on his brakes he jumped out of the truck and shouted, "HEY GET AWAY FROM THERE!" David spun around saw Willie and darted down the steps and across the lawn. Willie went in pursuit and he was pressed to follow David. His anger had given him the energy to run after the boy. However, that brat had a better knowledge of the woods and this house so he soon lost Willie, leaving him frustrated.

"_Willie! Ignore the boy and get in the house, I am alone and vulnerable and you know what you have to do."_ Again it was his voice, or was it his conscience? Would he do this to himself? Beat himself up over that rat bastard in the basement lying all-dead like in that coffin? It was creepy to think he could enter his thoughts and know what he was thinking. Willie stepped out of the woods and back to the old house, unlocking the door, he entered and found he was angry.

Then it dawned on him, when he was blind assed angry he never heard the voice. Could there be a relationship between his rage and the ability the monster in the basement had over him? Before Willie had a chance investigate those thoughts further, he heard the voice again, "_Go to Collinwood and tell Quentin Collins and Trask I wish to see them at sunset, tell them to not say where they are going and to not be late."_ Then Willie stopped and looked down, there was a note on the desk in Barnabas' handwriting, it said the same thing he had just heard in his mind. Once again he wondered if he was using Barnabas' voice to read the letter on the table.

Crumpling the letter up he walked to the drawing room and looked up at the portrait of the man that hung there. "You are a monster, you should not have been brought back to life, and you should have stayed in that sealed coffin until you were dust!"

Then the voice was back in his mind, "_Really Willie, you are not showing any degree of maturity with thoughts like that. Now do as the note says and do not irritate me any more or you could find the sharp end of my cane again._"

Willie started to shiver violently, that response in his mind answered his question, he was connected to Barnabas and he could read his thoughts and that scared the shit out of him and really creeped him out. "_Don't worry Willie I don't usually enter your thoughts, but as you have decided to curse my portrait and you have been wondering if it really is me in your mind, I thought it was appropriate you should have your fears confirmed._"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Old House

Willie staggered back his eyes wide and his mouth trembling he looked into the now penetrating eyes that stared at him from that portrait. Pressing his body up against the stair's railing he looked at the picture and wondered at this point if what Sarah said was true, would he be dead before the night was over? "_Really Willie? Your mind is starting to irritate me, do as you are instructed and do not make me angry. Right now I am annoyed and rather helpless to do anything about your insubordination."_ The voice sounded annoyed and tired. Willie not wasting any more time darted to the door and out, paused to lock it and was off to his truck.

Barnabas lay in his sleep of the dead he thought about what he would do to Willie if he kept up this persistent retaliation while he was trapped here. It was bad enough to try and reach out to the chaotic mess that was his thoughts and he found them common and distasteful to read his thoughts. The man had a one-track mind, if it was not trying to bed Carolyn; he hated his situation with him here in the old house. Finally he released his telepathic hold on Willie's mind and slipped into the deep sleep of the undead. He needed to be sharp minded when he met with Quentin and Gregory Trask this eve and he wanted a viable solution to bringing Victoria home safely.

Collinwood

Quentin sauntered into the drawing room and observed Liz sitting at the desk dealing with her correspondence. "Oh Elizabeth, I am glad I found you. I took a phone call last night from Miss Winters and she indicated that an emergency arose in New York and she was going to have to leave earlier than she thought. She apologized and hoped it would not create a problem."

Quentin was using his most charming manner he turned to the liquor cabinet, poured Liz a sherry and then poured him self a brandy. He studied the lovely woman sitting at the small French provincial desk she fiddled with the ink pen between her fingers. "No not a problem, I just wished she had spoken to me before she left. Thank you Quentin." She took the sherry and then stood.

"Close the door Quentin, there is something I wish to discuss with you." Quentin quirked his brow spun around closed the doors to the drawing room and looked at his cousin.

"This sounds serious?" He languidly walked to the sofa to sit. Then crossed his long well tailored leg over his knee and studied the pensive look on Elizabeth's face.

"It is serious very serious. It has to do with something odd that happened here in this house about a month ago, and it involved Vicki." Liz took a deep breath and let it out slowly; she seemed to be studying the sherry in her hand. Letting out a short breath she spoke softly. "We had a séance."

Quentin chuckled, "Well now that is progressive for the Collins Family and Collinwood as a sign of black arts?" He hid his chuckle behind a quick swallow of his brandy and turned a serious look to his cousin.

"I am not proud of it Quentin, but we had to have some answers and Roger thought he could get those answers from the land of the dead. What happened would boggle the mind. I am not so sure we did not mass hallucinate the whole thing. However, the evidence would be hard to dispute, we had just left a costume ball held at the Old House. There had been some odd occurrences and Roger thought a séance to try and contact one of those participants would help. Well the power went off, and Vicki disappeared. We discovered the house seemed to be stopped in some kind of time lock and Vicki was missing. It lasted for almost six hours. We could not leave the house, the clocks had stopped and it was as if we had fallen into a black hole."

Quentin was now becoming fascinated by what she was saying. "Really? And you say Miss Winters had disappeared?" He stood and paced to the French windows that over looked the front lawn and the patio area of the house. "Please go on Elizabeth this sounds fascinating."

"We estimated the time that had passed because we had no other way to gauge how long we were trapped here. Then she appeared and she had been shot, and was telling us she had lived a short lifetime in the 18th century. She apparently had been shot while in the past and had suffered at the hands of a witch hunter. But she claimed to have lived here right after the house was built and to have met all our ancestors."

"Could it be as you said Elizabeth? Could she have been suffering from a delusional lapse?" Quentin turned to look at his cousin and saw it was something that had disturbed her peace of mind.

"I would have thought that Quentin if she had not shown up with a gun shot injury she could not have suffered while in the séance and there is one other thing that bothers me about this. She had details about the family history that is not in any of the official history but is in my great, great grandfather's journal that Jeremiah died by the hand of Barnabas Collins in a duel. Vicki knew this as if she lived it. It was too intimate to her to not have been experienced."

Quentin had been listening to Elizabeth tell this story and when she spoke of Vicki she had an almost tender sound to her voice, much like a mother would have defending her child. "Elizabeth what is Victoria to this family? Is she an employee or is she a part of the family?" He asked and watched Elizabeth look down at the glass of sherry in her hand and a soft flush filled her cheeks.

"She is a member of the family Quentin, we have all grown quite fond of Victoria since her arrival here. She has attracted a lot of negative activity around her beginning with her abduction by Matthew Morgan and nearly being killed by him, to her claim of actually seeing and being visited by Josette Collins."

It was Quentin's turn to look surprise by this information. "But the legend has it that Josette only appears to Collins family members when they are in danger." He stood and stepped to the fireside chair and sat across from the ageless beauty on the sofa. Again, he sensed more then knew that there was something Elizabeth was holding back. He saw the resolve in the set of her head and the stiffness of her back.

"Victoria is a Collins, Quentin, that is why Josette went to her in her hour of need. Victoria is my child I birthed out of wedlock, and she or the rest of the family do not know this. That is why it concerns me that she seems to attract the negative evil that surrounds this family. I feel that I can confide this to you because you will keep my secret until such time I feel I can tell everyone who she really is and what she is, and that is a Collins."

That was enough to make Quentin's stomach lurch, he and Trask had put more than the Collins Family Governess at risk with Mircea, they had put a member of this family into the man's game plan, and if they did not rescue her, she was going to be a dead member of this family and that would not do, not do at all. A soft knock on the doors to the drawing room caused the two occupants to turn, "Come in." Elizabeth called and waited to see who would open the door. Carolyn stepped into the room and smiled brightly for the occupants of the room.

"Mother and Quentin, glad you are here Quentin, Willie Loomis is in the hallway and wishes to speak with you, he says he has a request to deliver to you from Barnabas." Quentin stood and bowed to the ladies, laid his glass on the liquor cabinet and exited the room.

"Wow you both looked like you had been caught with your hands in the cookie jar, what was so secret or serious that you had to close the door?" Carolyn walked over and plopped down next to her mother and grabbed the throw pillow.

"Oh we were just catching up on old times darling. Don't you look lovely, do you have a date tonight?" Elizabeth deftly changed the subject to direct the conversation on Carolyn dressed in a lovely pink dress, with her hair pinned up and in large curls, she had taken extra care to put on her make up so she looked exceptionally lovely."

"Not really thought I would drive to Portland tonight. Go to the movie or something, I was waiting for Vicki to get home to see if she wanted to go with me." Carolyn played with the throw pillow she looked at her mother.

"Well darling, Vicki had to leave early for her trip to New York apparently there was an emergency with the fondling home and she went to see a friend." Liz lifted her glass and sipped watching her daughter's face cloud over with disappointment and a very unattractive pout.

"Well I wished she would have said something to us. I was hoping for company to the movies." Carolyn was getting ready to go into a full blown pouting tantrum, when Quentin re-entered the room.

"Hey I know, cousin Quentin, would you like to go to the movies in Portland tonight?" Quentin noted how Carolyn's eyes shown with a brightness of excitement. Carolyn considered the fact she could be seen in public with the famous Grant Douglas, her girlfriends would be so jealous.

Quentin smiled and then said softly, "I need a rain check my beautiful cousin, I have an appointment to keep with your other cousin Barnabas tonight. It appears we share a passion for chess and I arranged last night to play him a game of chess tonight. That was what Willie wanted, to make sure I was going to be there tonight. I know I also have a business meeting with Gregory later too. So I need a rain check."

Carolyn's sparkle began to fade with her disappointment but Quentin had been so charming with his rejection that she could not be put out with him. "Why not take David to Portland to the movie tonight Carolyn, you could take him to Portland for the movie have dinner later and then come home late, he should be thrilled he will not have lessons to do with Vicki gone."

This reminder just sent her off into another fit of pique she considered that Vicki probably had not had time to put together those lesson plans she had promised her to keep David busy. She stood and huffed to the piano and began to pluck at the keys, which had an annoying affect on her mother. "Carolyn, either sit down and play but don't pluck."

Her voice was soft but filled with irritation, "Vicki promised me that she would put together some lessons for David, before she left on vacation and now you are telling me that she just up and left last night. I am sure she did not have time to do it!"

Elizabeth felt her daughter was being a bit petulant and unfair to Vicki's situation. "Did she not say what she had in mind for David as a travel lesson?"

Carolyn's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Yes, she did and I think I can do this without her. She wanted him to write about the historical sites in Boston to do a scavenger hunt for them, take a picture of them and then write out a description of them and why they were important. I can do that with him with no problem and it could be fun for both of us."

Elizabeth smiled, "See it will work out, why not go find him and ask him if he wants to go with you to Portland to the movie."

Carolyn practically skipped out of the room happy to have resolved two problems for the night and actually looking forward to taking David to Portland for the movie and a light dinner afterwards.

Old House

Quentin met Trask in front of the old house. Both men looked up at the now setting sun then to the front of the old house. "Well I hope he has had time to think about how we are going to proceed with this mess." Trask muttered he fell into step next to Quentin.

"Don't worry about it Gregory, I have a plan if he does not come up with one." Quentin sounded pretty cocky with his attitude stepping up to the front of a house he had always felt creeped out when he visited.

"I hope it is a better idea than the one you came up with last night. That not only will get us her killed but will get us killed too." Gregory Trask did not like being on the outside looking in on situations. He always had the upper hand in his legal practice and the cases he took he controlled the whole process from beginning to end.

"Think about it Gregory, what does Knightwing want? He wants the artifact, and who has the artifact?" So when it comes, I will make him a deal he won't be able to refuse. He can give us Miss Winters and we will give him the artifact, except it won't be the real artifact." They stepped to the front door and used the knocker, then waited.

Willie hustled to the door, opened it a crack peered out at them, and then opened the door wider and stepped back. "He is down the hall in the library." Willie glanced down he did not wish to look into the eyes of either of these men, he had been unsettled enough finding out that Barnabas could get in his mind, hear his thoughts and know how much he hated him, so he tried to keep his thoughts on something neutral.

Then he would hear him in his mind. "_Oh Willie how tedious you have become Do hurry them along to me in the library, when they leave you will report to me immediately, I have something I wish you to handle first thing tomorrow._"

Willie had begun to develop a nervous tick and when he could feel him in his mind he would jerk and then his eye would twitch. "_Why don't you get the hell outta my mind? You know I hate it when you do that."_ Trask and Quentin watched the odd man jerk in a spasm and then he began to wink at them. Quentin hurried with Trask down the hallway. He wanted to get away from Willie. With how weird he was acting, Quentin was not sure if Willie was about to try and hump them or start frothing at the mouth. Either way he did not want to be left alone with the odd man.

Entering the library, Quentin slammed the door shut after Gregory entered. 'Okay we are here, and we are still as puzzled as you as to what to do." He glanced up at Barnabas who sat behind the desk. Barnabas had his fingers bridged together and watched Quentin, and then in total silence and with no emotion, he shifted his gaze to Trask.

"Sit, Willie will bring in the brandy and whiskey and by all means make yourself at home." Barnabas waited while they took their seats. After they had seated themselves, Willie entered with a tray. Walking to the sideboard he sat the silver-serving tray with glasses down then stepped out of the room. "Now, gentlemen please do make yourself a drink and get comfortable, we are going to be here for a while."

Gregory stood to pour himself some of the excellent whiskey the house offered, Quentin waved his hand. "No thank you nothing for me for now. I just want to know what you think you can do that we can't?" Barnabas studied the brash young man and then looked down. He waited for Trask to sit down.

"I will unleash the wrath of hell down on them, Quentin, I will make their lives a living hell and make them wish they had never taken Miss Winters or hurt any member of this family. That is what I am about to do." Barnabas stood and walked with undeniable confidence and more patience than Quentin had or hoped to have.

"Oh really and how do you propose to bring hell down on a man that has more wealth and influence than it seems we owe in the national debt?" Quentin folded his arms over his chest and looked over for Trask to confirm what he had just said.

Trask was enjoying the whiskey in his hand and had been looking at the color of the whiskey trying to determine the year of fermentation. "Mr. Collins you do realize this man is a Baron and has obtained near King status in his realm of existence, he has an undefined wealth at his disposal and probably even now have men watching us. That was how he took control of Miss Winters with me sitting barely fifty feet from them."

Barnabas turned and raised an eyebrow as he studied Trask. "I could just as easily take your life where you sit without batting an eye Trask, and the fact he has money is of no consequence to me. I shall have to teach the man a valuable lesson and when he feels he is desperate enough he will gladly return Miss Winters to us unharmed and will bother us no more." Barnabas studied the books on one of the shelves. He reached for one and pulled it down turning he with deliberate steps walked back to his desk.

Quentin had watched the man that was most definitely out of his mind or had lost it to think he could go to another man's country where he had total control and take something from him he was not willing to give up. "I see and how do you plan to do this?" He had an edge of sarcasm to his tone sitting back to study his cousin and marveled at his cool demeanor.

Barnabas sat and opened the book, and then began to thumb through the book then marked it, appearing to ignore Quentin and his question. Marking his spot he glanced up and fixed that stare at Trask. "Sleep." He said it softly, with complete command. Trask looked at the glass in his hand, and then set it on the table. Turning he glanced towards Quentin, his eyes fluttered and then closed. "Now, you will go into a deep enough sleep Trask and remember nothing of this conversation I am about to have with Quentin."

Trask nodded his head slumped down and began to snore lightly. Quentin watched amazed and turned to Barnabas, "How do you do that?' I am amazed and impressed and trust me I do not impress easily." Quentin leaned back in his chair, draped his arm over the back of the chair and crossed one knee over the other knee and leveled his gaze directly on Barnabas.

"The same way that you have managed to live for over a hundred and fifty years Quentin, and if I am not mistaken and I generally am not, you are the original Quentin Collins that lived at Collinwood in the early 1800's. I think circa 1845?"

Quentin tensed then laughed, "You are as mad as your man servant Loomis, if you believe that is the truth." Quentin had really gone uncomfortable he studied the bent head of Barnabas. He had put a flippant smile on his face but found it was stiff and held no humor.

Barnabas finally looked up and there as no humor in his gaze, "Quentin, you are the original Quentin Collins, you are not his son or grandson, or great grandson, you are the original Quentin placed under a curse by your wife's sister Magda Rakosi, you had a portrait painted of you by one Charles Delaware Tate. One Count Petoffi had commissioned this portrait. He had hoped to use your body as his own, leave you in his aged broken body so he could live on forever. With that thought he had hoped to take over you and the Collins family fortune. He wanted your life thereby leaving you powerless while trapped. This particular portrait allows you to be nearly immortal. However you can be killed if someone finds the portrait and destroys it, you will age and then die." Barnabas sat back looking directly without a doubt to his words or his mind he studied Quentin and saw him fidget and squirm under his direct gaze. "Do not deny it Quentin, I have it on good authority of whom and what you were, when the portrait was painted."

He had been dead on with each statement, but he was not about to confirm it. "I believe your sources are wrong, Barnabas, what you are suggesting is something out of a horror story or a science fiction novel." Quentin shifted, stood and turned to pour himself a generous portion of brandy into the snifter. His hand trembled with his withheld emotions. Barnabas dispassionately watched his cousin.

"If I were wrong, you would not be sweating and needing that drink. Look, I know Magda cursed you for your ill treatment of Jenny whom was Magda's sister." He glanced up from the book he had been perusing then folded his hands on top of the book. "I am sure that if I tried to control your mind, I would find that the wolf beast would resist me and you may even convert to wolf. But that is not relevant to me at this time. What is relevant is that I want Victoria Winters home, safe and sound where she belongs."

Quentin sat down then leaned forward, "Who the hell are you?" He was feeling angry that he seemed to know everything about him and he knew nothing at all about him. He was also wondering who was alive to be able to confirm any of this information he had just divulged. "I am not agreeing that you are telling the facts of my life. I would like to know how in the hell did you find out this information?"

Barnabas sat back, he had decided while he was in his coffin during the daylight hours and his very lengthy conversation with Magda during this time had not afforded him much rest and thus gave him reason to not be polite nor inclined to be generous with his own information. However, Magda said he was likely to get the information if he were truthful with Quentin, and considering that the two doctors were about to arrive shortly, he would be hard pressed to shove him and Trask out of the door.

Even now he thought back to that conversation with the ghost in the basement of the old house. Josette had been the one to find Magda and brought her restless spirit to him. Barnabas had become aware of both women's ethereal presence outside of his coffin and forced his own presence to join them by his coffin. "Josette?" He had asked why she had brought this person to his slumber time.

"Barnabas I know she is in terrible danger and she was good to me when she traveled to the past. You must listen to Magda, she had something you must know, and she will tell you where to look to find the proof you will need to convince him to help you."

Barnabas looked at the lovely gypsy that stood next to the delicate Josette. "It iz Quentin Collins ju vish to convince to help ju?" Barnabas nodded. "Zis Quentin, he iz not a good man but his iz not a bad man, he 'as done much to redeem his worthless life."

Barnabas waited patiently for her to work though her anger when she thought of how he had caused Magda's sister's madness and eventual death, and the curse she had placed on him. Thus condemning any future generation of Quentin's first-born children. Magda had been explicit on her information and then she turned and nodded to the back of the basement. "Ze proof iz hidden in the wall follow me, I shall show ju vher iz"

In his ethereal form, Barnabas followed Magda and Josette to the fourth cell in the holding area that had been used for disobedient slaves, and where he had kept Maggie before she ultimately went mad. Pointing to a brick in the wall, Barnabas could see that the mortar was not the same color as the other bricks so someone had resealed the bricked up area.


	13. Chapter13

Chapter 13

Old House Library

So upon rising at sunset, he had immediately went to the brick, and pressed around and found it was a pressure plate that allowed the wall to slide slightly to reveal an area that had been used to hide something. There he found a rusted iron box, pulling it out, he opened the box and inside was the accounting of the life of Magda and her husband, Sandor Rakosi and their lives while living in the Old House during the mid eighteen hundreds. How she had hated Quentin and cursed him, then afterwards discovered that Jenny her sister had children, and that the male child would bear his curse through out the ages. The diary further detailed how Magda had tried to reverse the curse and had stolen the hand of Count Petofi to take the curse away but discovered instead her actions had set in motion a series of events that would have put the whole of Collinwood and the Collins Family in terrible danger. The ghost of Magda Rakosi finally told Barnabas that if he were truthful with Quentin he would admit that he was the original Quentin.

Barnabas fixed his gaze on Quentin, his features were stern and they held a hint of irritation and then resolve he sat forward and fixed his own gaze on Quentin. "I know all this from Magda her self, she came to me while I was in a state of non living. You see Quentin, like you, I too am the original Barnabas Collins that was born in this house, and lived and died here. So I know what I know because my former lover and dearest love brought Magda to me to help save Vicki, and now you know."

Quentin nearly dropped his glass from his mouth he looked in shock at the man that sat so calmly at his desk. "This is the diary of Magda, she directed me to it earlier this day, while I was in non corporal form and she told me everything. So, Quentin, you may be a werewolf, I am a vampire. I will not allow anyone or anything to keep me from what I desire, and at this time I desire Victoria Winters and you are going to help me get her back."

Quentin tried to be flippant but found his vocal chords were not working, he was stunned and he was past the point of denial at the things that Barnabas had spoken of and about. "I, I . . ." he cleared his throat and tried to start again. "I am truly stunned as you can tell. I admit I am the original Quentin Collins, and I have been placed under a curse for my ill treatment and deeds to my wife Jenny Collins, but you, how is it possible that you were cursed to be a vampire?"

Barnabas once again revisited the words that Magda had spoken earlier, "I was the unfortunate victim of a vengeful witch that had grown very fond of one of my friends, she was spurned by him, and she cursed him, in turn I was his first victim the night he changed and now I share that same curse." Barnabas closed the book in front of him, and edged it forward, "You may wish to either destroy this or hide it with your picture."

Quentin leaned forward and drew the book to him, he looked at the cover and then thumbed through it, to read through some of the writings that had been put down by Magda. "She hated me for what I did to Jenny, I was a ripe bastard, womanizing and it drove Jenny insane. They had kept her locked in the tower at Collinwood and she got out one night and found me with Edith Collins, my brother's wife, she tried to stab me, we fought and she died by my hand." Quentin's voice had grown soft and remorseful he spoke from memories that like him would not die.

"I really am sorry for the unfortunate incident involving your wife. My condolences. Be that as it may, we have a situation with Victoria being held by a man that I suspect does not plan on us ever getting her back alive, that is why I plan to change the game plan and bring him here and with Miss Winters in tow."

Quentin sighed deeply and looked at the book in his lap then to his cousin, "I see and how do you plan to do that?" He was distracted so he had not paid attention to the look Barnabas had been giving him.

"I understand he had affections for Miss Wycke, Phyllis Wycke, but he felt he was thwarted in his romantic efforts to obtain Miss Wycke's affections. He is not aware that I am the one that originally killed Miss Wycke in revenge for what Peter Bradford had done to my beautiful beloved Josette. He believes that Peter Bradford was responsible for her death and he has vengeance in his heart."

Quentin glanced up in amazement that Barnabas was able to glean that much information from his sources. "If I judge my human adversary as well as I judge most simple minded humans, then I will change the game rules and force him to comply with my game rules. That is where you will come in to play Quentin, and you will need to be as smart as everyone has said you possess strategic type reasoning."

Quentin was listening he continued to run his fingertips nervously over the pages playing with the book in his lap, taking the cover opening it and then closing it. "I see and what do you expect that I shall be able to accomplish that I was not able to accomplish before."

Barnabas smiled, "You will be my I believe the word is ace in the hole. You see Quentin, he is so strong because he too has a painting done by Charles Delaware Tate, the same as you, Petofi had offered to help him, with the same plan in mind he had with you, the difference was the gypsies got to Petofi before he could take control of Mercia's body. He like you wished to end the threat of dying by the destruction of his portrait so he keeps it hidden in his castle."

A soft knock on the door, and Julia walked into the room and paused, "Oh I am sorry, I thought you were alone." She turned and nodded to Quentin, then frowned seeing Trask slumped in his chair. "Is he injured does he need my help?" Her concern was immediately evident and her reaction as a doctor obvious.

"He is sleeping Julia please sit, is Eric here with you?" Barnabas was a little irritated by the interruption. He turned to Quentin, "I am not sure have you met Doctor Hoffman? Doctor Hoffman have you met Quentin Collins?" He was making a quick introduction between the two watching Julia walk to Trask to reassure herself that he was only sleeping. "I said Julia, he is sleeping, I put him under a hypnotic suggestion to sleep so Quentin and I could have a personal conversation without him being aware of the subject matter."

Julia had taken his pulse and found it to be steady, strong, and nothing abnormal, she checked his throat area and then turned with a gracious smile, "I do not think I have had the pleasure of formally meeting another member of the Collins family, charmed I am sure Mr. Collins." She held out her hand to shake his hand and found hers taken into his hand and kissed.

"I believe the pleasure is mine Doctor Hoffman. You are correct we did meet briefly at Collinwood the other day when I first arrived." Quentin smiled and Barnabas could see the ready charm he exuded while he held her hand a little too long and the smile he had perfected to make a woman feel she was the sole recipient of that smile. "Eric?" He turned his gaze back to Barnabas for an explanation.

Julia had been preoccupied then remembered their brief encounter. "Oh yes, you had something going on with your sideburns as I recall, you shaved them?"

Quentin chuckled softly, "I felt it was time to step from the 19th century into the 20th century my dear."

Barnabas waited for them to finish their introduction and turned to Quentin, "Yes, Doctor Hoffman has an associate name Eric Lang which both of them believe they can help me with my illness." Barnabas glanced up to see the white haired doctor with a youthful face and piercing blue eyes pop his head in the room.

"Oh you have company?" He turned to leave when Barnabas halted his retreat. "Doctor Lang do come in and meet my cousin Quentin Collins and do not be alarmed Trask is merely sleeping which can be attested to by Doctor Hoffman, and anything you discuss with me can be done in front of Quentin."

Lang looked uncomfortably between Barnabas and Quentin, "Are you sure, this is rather delicate information we have in regards to your treatments."

Barnabas nodded, "I am positive, I trust Quentin implicitly with my life, so do sit and tell me what you wish."

Castle Dracul

In a room deep in the heart of Bucharest Vicki laid on a bed sleeping, something had disturbed her sleep and she opened her eyes in a momentary feeling of flight or fight. Her body had tensed and then she heard his voice. "Relax my dear it is I."

"Klaus?" She spoke his name in such soft tender fashion he was momentarily touched. He brushed her hair from her face and smiled into her bewildered gaze. "Why are you here?" There was a hint of fear in her voice when she spoke.

"I come to make sure you are doing well my dear, you have been given a lot of a particular drug and I want to make sure you are not becoming addicted." Vicki licked her lips and her mouth felt full of cotton.

"I don't feel well Klaus, why am I being given the drug? I promise to answer truthfully as long as I am not being drugged." She felt the sting of unintentional tears that flicked from her eyelashes and rolled down her cheeks.

"Oh my poor dear, do not cry, it breaks my heart to see you so distressed." He gently wiped the tears from her face and smiled he saw her try to bravely return his smile. "Now that is better. I know it makes you feel sick to your stomach."

Vicki closed her eyes and hiccupped with her emotional tears. "I do feel sick to my stomach Klaus, I promise I will not try to escape or lie to you just no more of the drugs, they are making me feel horrid and I was unable to stand earlier and nearly wet my bed. I beg you no more drugs." She clutched his hand and imploringly.

Klaus was stricken to feeling guilt for the look she gave was one of impassioned fear over what was happening to her. He patted her hand and spoke softly, "I promise you my dearest little one no more drugs for now. You must rest my dear and soon, very soon we will be leaving this place and going to another place a bit deeper into Transylvania. You must remember, that you should not anger Alexandru. When you upset him, he is the one that demands you be given the drugs Victoria, and this makes me sad."

Vicki swallowed then spoke her voice was hoarse from non-use and the dryness of the drugs she had been given. "I promise I will be good Klaus, I won't anger him or even try. I just don't want any more drugs, they make me so sick." She coughed to clear her throat and found it was painful.

Klaus leaned over her and lifted a small glass of water. "I want you to take small sips my dear, it will make your throat feel better."

Vicki was so thirsty that she grabbed the glass weakly and began to gulp the water down and immediately regretted the action her stomach roiled and the water came up. Klaus lifted the pan to catch the regurgitated water. "Now, one more time my dear, small sips, I know you are terribly thirsty, but you really must take small sips."

This time, she did as she was instructed and took small sips swallowing them with some difficulty and with trepidation that she would once again be bringing it back up. She knew she was dehydrated she just did not know how badly. She took the last of her small sips, she pushed the glass away and leaned back on the bed closing her eyes. "Why is he doing this to me? What have I done to him? I don't even know him."

Klaus wanted free reign to answer the questions she was asking but to do so would only anger Alexandru and then he would order she be given more drugs despite the fact Klaus had warned they could become addictive to her and she would suffer from it. Alexandru did not seem to care he was slowly killing her. "I have asked him to slow the administration of the drugs down my dear, and he is listening to me, but when you anger him, he looses reason and seems to want to punish you, so please try not to anger him."

Vicki nodded and rolled onto her side closing her eyes. "I will try very hard to not anger him. Thank you Klaus you have been so kind to me and I do appreciate all you have done." She wanted to cry again and she was afraid and she desperately wished she had left Collinwood on better terms with Barnabas because deep down she thought she knew he would move heaven and earth to bring her home and she missed her home and in her less lucid times, she suspected while in those dark thoughts that she would not be leaving here alive.

Old House

Barnabas walked with Lang and Hoffman down to their makeshift lab; he studied the various pieces of equipment with interest and concern. "My how times in medicine have changed." He observed walking around the room filled with various pieces of equipment lining the tables filled with microscopes, test tubes, lights, and bottles held off the table with an intricate rack of bottles filled with various colors fluids. "All this has a purpose?" He waved his hand indicating the table with the bottles and other equipment with a gyroscope.

"Oh yes, we use it all to affect the desire results we need to accomplish what we said we would do." Julia spoke from her place by an odd contraption of a tall machine that Barnabas had no idea what its use would be. "We use test results and the liquids to guide us towards a successful conclusion. That is why this place will need to be kept sterile and clean at all times. You may want to advise Willie he needs to do this while we are here."

Barnabas turned, "Well this is all well and good my dear doctor, but for now, I fear I must maintain my abilities and not risk loosing anything." He brushed his palms together then turned calmly and looked from Julia to Lang.

"Why is it necessary to keep your abilities? They are destructive and you take a chance each day of being found out and caught." Lang shifted next to Julia watching their one and only test subject being the man that was now backing out.

"I take many chances doctor, daily when I lie in that coffin entomb with only my thoughts to keep me company as my body takes on a dead state and my mind is undead and I think of what I am and why I am here. It burns in me daily that I am unable to be a normal functioning man, and that I lost everything I loved."

"That did not answer my question, why do you need to remain as you are surely you do not like this state you are in?" Lang waved his hand expressively while holding Barnabas' gaze.

"How can you possibly think I could enjoy this kind of life, locked away from the sunlight, to never feel the warmth of the sun on my face again, to have desires and lusts for things that would drive another to seek relief, and to never know the relief they could get once they have what they want or need. To do acts that are so horrible that any woman that I would have in my life would run from me screaming in terror?"

"Then again, why wait? Each day you delay in this, you suffer the possibilities of being discovered." Julia spoke with concern edging her face and her voice.

"I need to be at my peak for the project I am about to take on, I do not need unnecessary distractions. This dear doctor would be such a distraction. I will need all my powers." Barnabas was becoming irritated. Something to Willie's ears had become a learn pattern. He stood just out of sight on the other side of the entranceway to the lab. Having followed Barnabas down the stairs he stood waiting patiently for him to be done. But from the expression of that voice he knew they were getting to a point that Barnabas' anger would be displayed.

He stepped into the doorway and stood, the distraction was enough to give Barnabas a chance to recover his emotions and his patience. "What is it Willie?" His voice and irritation were now transferred to the sight of Willie.

"Um, you wanted to see me when Trask and Quentin were gone?" His voice was soft and tremulous he stood with his hands clinching and unclenching at his sides. He kept his lip from trembling while he stood in the door awaiting the sign he was subsiding with his irritation and anger.

"Wait for me upstairs Willie, I won't be long with the doctors." Barnabas motioned his hands in a show of waving him away. Willie hesitated and then saw he was becoming irritated with him so he shuffled back again out of sight but nearby. Barnabas glanced to the door and spoke more forcefully, "UPSTAIRS Willie." The words left no argument he sent him up to the drawing room.

"Now back to you two. I plan to do as you wish to work with you on this project, the problem I have is there is something more pressing and a need I have to take care of before someone I am very fond of gets hurt or worse killed."

Julia started forward at the words, then stopped, "What are you talking about?" She glanced from Eric to Barnabas.

Eric never let his gaze move from Barnabas. "Yes, Barnabas what are you talking about, who is in trouble?"

Barnabas shifted to the table filled with bubbling bottles that sat boiling over Bunsen burners and in the rack. "Let us say that in nearly two hundred years, while I lay in that coffin confined, unable to do anything but remember what I had lost, what I had become and what I had done, my one main dream was to seek out the woman that most closely resembled my precious love Josette Collins. To find my Josette or recreate her in this new vessel." Barnabas' voice had become reminiscent.

Eric sighed crossing his arms over his chest and turned to peer to Julia. "But you realize the impossibility of that do you not Mr. Collins?"

Julia the counselor and a doctor that had studied the mind for many years and more qualified to understand out of the two. She quickly surmised that he was trying to recreate Josette when he took Maggie Evans. She had studied the human nature of many and knowing very well how the human mind can process thoughts needs and desires stepped forward and laid a comforting hand on Barnabas' shoulder, "And that was when you found Maggie?" She said softly, and then turned to Eric to confirm what she had suspected.

"Yes, she was the exact duplicate of Josette in looks. However, she did not possess the tender qualities that Josette had. She was sadly lacking and was soon broken because of the isolation I had put her through in the cell. I was angry and had to try and bend and pressure her into becoming what I wanted."

Willie stood quietly listening and hearing them speak so matter of fact about Maggie was irritating him. She was more than a thing, she was more than a damn test subject she was a human being that had felt things and was eventually broken by that monster in the room with the two doctors.

"_Enough Willie, I do not need your thoughts interfering with what I must do, now do as I say before you begin to irritate me again. Your mind is so filled with confusion, guilt and it's a muddled mess, I do not need this distraction to prepare for what is to come, now for once in your life, do as you are told and go upstairs."_ Willie shook his head, he walked towards the stairs.

"You know you can just stay out of my mind and you would be a lot happier." He mumbled and felt the wave of anger wash over his body and knew Barnabas was projecting it over the fact Willie had in Barnabas' opinion spoken back to his betters.

"But Barnabas Maggie is not a threat to you, I took care of that and if she is the one in danger, I can assure you she is under guard twenty-four hours a day by the police department." Eric stepped back and walked to the large chair they had placed in the room and sat.

"I am not talking about Maggie Evans, had she posed a threat I would have killed her before the police could have stopped me." Barnabas turned and the habit he had of rubbing his hands up and down he splayed his fingers was observed by Julia, a habit she surmised was due to nervous or irritated tendencies to keep from lashing out.

Julia nodded, "Vicki?" In knowing soothing tones; she offered up the simple explanation from something she had been observing over the past few weeks. Something she had become aware of while she had been present with the Collins Family. More especially around Barnabas and Vicki.

"Yes," His answer was simplistic and drawn out in a soft voice of regret that spoke volumes to Julia. "You see once I realized that the beauty of what was Josette was not enough, that I needed to have a woman that was not only beautiful but held those same gentle and tender qualities that was what made Josette. I discovered that there was something more than just trying to reclaim the image of what had been Josette, I needed a woman that could compare or equal Josette and there she was under my very nose and in my line of sight."

Julia sighed and looked down at her foot, examining the toe of her shoe. "But Barnabas surely you realize that Josette is dead and will never be again, that each of us as human beings and individuals are as we are and what made us is how we are raised and whom we choose to surround ourselves with as we grow. Vicki was raised in a fondling home, she is as she is because of how she was raised and influenced her as she grew up."

Barnabas sighed deeply, "You may wish to believe that Doctor because of your analytical and modern mind has trained you to think thus, I believe in kismet, the human mind is formed at birth, it is influenced by others around us as we grow, but we all have traits, that are inherited as we are formed and grow in the womb, can you explain the nervous tick a son takes from his father? Can you explain the way we react to things because of a daughters unreasoning fears of being close to another because her mother was damaged during or before her birth?"

Julia looked up and studied the man standing before her. "We call it learned pattern behavior, something we adjust to or see daily and then emulate as we grow older."

"I would agree with that Barnabas, we all observe habits from others and then unconsciously begin to emulate those actions as we grow older not even realizing that we are doing it." Eric had stood and walked towards Julia.

"I cannot agree, in this case Victoria was raised in an orphanage. However, she is a Collins and she is Elizabeth's daughter, she had not been around Elizabeth until she came here yet she tucks her hair as Elizabeth did, she stands with her arms folded and her leg bent to allow better distribution of her weight. She also has the soft and most tender qualities that I have observed so far in today's society than any other has displayed and those my dear Doctor Hoffman, and Doctor Lang are inherited from a long line of being a Collins."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Old House Lab

They could see they were not going to win this argument that science had constantly prevailed and he was determined to find Josette in the persona of Vicki. But then the dawning realization came to them both about the same time. One turned to look at the other as if in silent communication.

"Wait a minute Barnabas, are you telling me that you feel Vicki is in danger?" Julia asked with concern as she looked from Eric back to Barnabas.

"I am telling you I know she is in danger. She is in terrible danger with a man that will kill her if he does not get what he wants from Quentin." Barnabas' voice cracked with his held emotions. With the release of the emotions he slumped against the cold sterile top of the lab table.

"How do you know this?" Julia questioned still not sure to believe what he had just told her. Barnabas sighed deeply then said softly.

"I know because the men that took her told Trask they would not return her until they got what Quentin has and that is an artifact he found at a dig in Egypt on his last visit. This man according to Quentin and Trask says that he is ruthless and once he gets the artifact that Vicki is automatically dead."

'But I thought she was in New York, I don't understand where is she and what is this man's name?" Julia held a look of genuine concern while she studied the bent head of Barnabas.

"Apparently they took her to Bucharest and she is there in this man's powers and unable to break free and if she did she is not in a familiar country she would be lost and helpless not knowing the language or have anyone to turn to for help." The sound of his voice was grave and sad he thought of what could happen to Vicki or has happened to her he spoke of her dire situation.

"Then what can we do to help? Surely, there is something I can do or for that matter Eric? We could send one of us to make sure she is well and not harmed?" Julia stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Eric was as eager as Julia, "Yes, I could get on the next plane to Bucharest if someone would tell him I wish to examine her as her doctor to assure there is proof of life before the exchange?" Both of them were throwing out options when Barnabas held up his hand. "Please I thank you both for your kind offers but these people would not hesitate to kill you Eric or you Julia once you called back to say Vicki was in good health and then kill her."

Both doctors were frustrated with Barnabas quashing the idea of them going to Bucharest or helping. "I am not saying we could perhaps use you later, what I am saying is we must take this in steps and then we can be assured that all parties are uninjured or worse killed in the process."

Eric leaned on the table looked at Julia then to Barnabas, "So you have a plan of sorts?" He waited for his answer he studied the man before him.

"I am saying that we have worked through the preliminary part of the actions I plan to take and thus would require me to use some of my powers as a vampire."

"So if we began your treatments before her return and you were in any diminished capacity this plan would not work?" Julia analyzed the situation then shot her glance to Eric who immediately understood.

"I am saying that part of my plan would require the diminished capacity of one Jeff Clark is how he is known to you and known to me as Peter Bradford. He lived almost two hundred years ago and was at one time a dear family friend and neighbor. Then he angered a witch and she put him under a curse, when he awoke from his death I was his first victim his second victim had been my beloved Josette."

Julia had a look of dawning realization she turned to Eric, "Now it all makes sense, so what do you propose?" She turned back to Barnabas.

"I am going to trap Clark and we are going to use him as your test subject, once you succeed in what you wished to do with me and he is adequately weakened, we can use him as barter along with the artifact in exchange for Vicki."

"Why would this man wish to have Clark?" Eric was the first to ask.

"Because he had an affection for Phyllis Wick, my sister's governess. She fell in love with Peter Bradford when they met in this house. Then when Bradford rejected the love of Angelique, she became enraged with him." Barnabas voice had grown softer and more sedate he spoke of that time so long ago.

"Why would he be involved with a witch? I thought they were a myth? " Julia asked while allowing her mind to absorb the information she had just been given.

"You thought I was a myth yet here I stand. I can assure you there are a lot of evil in this world; things that go bump in the night are there for a reason and not to scare children to stay in bed to sleep. They are there because there is a darker power that sits just below the surface of this world waiting to unleash hell on Earth. Those horrors were not some nightmare of an author while in his cups to sell books. They are there because they do exist."

Barnabas stepped to the huge chair Eric vacated earlier turned and sat heavily. "I was the one that asked my good friend Peter to distract Angelique, I had started an affair with her after she arrived as a maid to Josette. Do not get me wrong, I was in love with Josette before the moment she popped her head out of the carriage. I was patient at first but angry because the one woman I knew I could love so completely and absolutely, that woman was going to be the wife of my Uncle."

1796 Old House

He sighed reliving that moment when the carriage arrived in front of Collinwood; the family was lined up along with the servants to meet the new soon to be mistress of Collinwood. He remembered he resented having to stand there when he could have been tumbling the woman's maid, then he saw her. The old feelings he had for her when he first met her as a young lady being prepped to be his Uncle's wife requiring English lessons. He remembered how they had grown from student tutor to lovers.

Except she was more breathtaking with those soulful doe eyes and that fall of long luxurious red hair, swept up in curls to tuck neatly beneath her small stylish traveling hat that held a half net over her face. She looked expectantly around and when her eyes landed on Barnabas she blushed, that lovely shade of red. He then watched as those long lovely lashes fluttered down and over her eyes hiding the startled look in them.

Barnabas felt his breath taken; he thought he would never breathe again unless she looked up and at him. Then Jeremiah stepped to the coach, took her hand and helped her down. Her slender form perfectly formed in the deep green velvet traveling coat. Her voice was as lovely as her form and Barnabas was smitten all over again from that moment.

Then there was Angelique who swept forward to hug her employer and take her small valise from her hand. "Mademoiselle, it is good to see you here, come I have your room ready for you and all is prepared." Josette turned laughing and hugged her friend and maid.

"Thank you Angelique, please come with me and tell me of this place." She then paused and glanced from Barnabas to Jeremiah. Remembering her manners she blushed deeply and spoke softly, "Oh my I almost forgot, I am so nervous." She had remembered her manners knowing it was expected for her to meet the servants and the family. So, Jeremiah took her to the family. Dropping her lashes over those deep brown eyes she smiled shyly.

"This my dear is my older brother Joshua."

Joshua gruffly bowed and answer, "Very pleased to meet you."

"This is his wife Naomi." He took her to the lovely lady that was as Josette surmised an ageless beauty. She was a lovely and kind as she had been told.

"You are lovely my dear welcome to Collinwood and may your life be as fruitful and happy as mine has been." Naomi had stepped forward and hugged the girl tightly, then stepped back.

"Oh Madame it is a pleasure to know you are here for me, thank you so much."

Then it was Barnabas' turn for an introduction, he stepped forward and took her hand, their eyes met and they could not part they stared into each other's eyes. Barnabas remembered how delicate her gloved hand felt in his. "This is my nephew Barnabas"

"Bonjour monsieur, I am very pleased to meet you." The tone of her voice had fallen she felt her own heart race with an unexpected excitement feeling his confident hand in her hand and the look was so penetrating she knew he could see in to her heart and surely must know she had fallen in love with him two years ago.

"My dear it is a great pleasure to finally meet you and to see all that was said about your beauty and your tenderness was not exaggerated by the blind eye of love." His words flowed from his heart he expressed his appreciation for a woman as lovely as this one that now stood before him. He glanced to his Uncle noting his studied look on the two.

Josette giggled uneasily as she caught the frown from Jeremiah from the corner of her eye. "You are way to kind monsieur, I must say it is a very great pleasure to meet and know you all." Her words gushed forward as she met the young girl named Sarah and the cousin named Daniel. Turning to peer at them all.

After the family was introduced she was taken down the line to meet the servants who all bowed or curtsied to her as she heard their names and shook their hands. Finally the introductions were over and she was ready to retire to this room that Angelique had spoken.

Current Time

Barnabas shook his head. Blinking the past from his mind he was brought back to the present. "I realize the past is that the past. But a part of me longs for the softness and gentleness that comes so naturally to Victoria. She epitomizes what was right with the generation I left behind and she holds to those old fashioned ideas with her heart and her soul is very old. So trust me when I say I see Josette in her and would be glad to have Josette back, but she is gone truly gone, so if I am to have her, then it must be someone from this day and age."

His speech was impassioned with the love he had felt for Josette from so long ago. He sighed softly even now he could see the way Vicki's eyes lit up when he spoke of something dealing with the past and how he would execute his idea to bring a part of that past back to the present. He could see the blush on her face when she was complimented and this showed she was undeniably unaware of how very lovely she was in his eyes.

With these thoughts the two doctors could readily see how he felt with the softness that edged the corners of his mouth to form a sad smile, the light in his eyes when he thought of the woman that was in his mind the perfect replacement for Josette. Julia's concern was that he looked at Vicki and saw Josette. That he still wanted to change her into someone she could not be. "You do realize that she is her own person, with her own desires, and thoughts?" Julia prompted.

Eric stepped forward to put a protective but secure arm around Julia. It was his way of showing her support while she spoke of who and what Vicki was. "I realize she has her own endearing qualities that closely match what I wanted to find in Maggie Evans but was sadly lacking. Vicki is smart, articulate, and very loving, she would no more harm another than she would run off or elope. She would want a large wedding, with everything that surrounded her being her family and her friends because that is what means the most to her and that is how Josette was on her wedding day."

Again he was comparing the close proximity of how Vicki reacted to events and occasions as Josette had also reacted. Julia tried one more time to make him see the dangerous situation he was placing himself and his intended bride in by comparing them so closely. "Barnabas, Vicki is a woman that was raised in this day and age, she has her own mind and you are right she is very intelligent though she constantly says she does not understand, I think it is because she wants it plainly spelled out so she can analyze it and lock it into a category that she has set up in her mind."

Julia referenced the constant use of "What do you mean?" That Vicki had a habit of saying when they were conversing. It had annoyed her until she realized they all; the whole Collins family had the habit of saying "What do you mean?" Then it dawned on her that this was not a learned pattern behavior this was something the whole Collins family had done since her arrival and she had found herself falling into the habit of wanting clarification on certain thoughts or expressions brought up by the Collins family.

"I know Julia and I respect the fact that she is an individual separate from Josette, she does still possess those qualities that I so admired in Josette and that is why I was willing to wait for her to come to me willingly." Barnabas had looked up and in defense of his position he had stated what he had told Willie. That he would wait for her to come to him willingly, now he wondered how he could obtain such a compromise if she were away from him and he was unable to control the situation around her. "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to prepare for the arrival of Peter Bradford to this house, you can assist me in this process by doing something I cannot do." This immediately caught their attention and both looked expectantly to their host.

"And what is that?" Eric asked expectantly.

"That is to obtain something that I can not tolerate being around and is my downfall should I ever be placed in this very same situation. Quentin has left to obtain the items needed, I have sent a message to Peter to join me here, I will need you all in place when he does arrive so we can effectively block him from escaping the trap I have set.

Barnabas walked up the stairs; he had left the two doctors to discuss his plan and he entered the drawing room, where Willie stood pacing the floor. Barnabas watched the young man shifting back and forth in phrenic motion . "_What the hell does he want now? I aint done nothin wrong this time, I have been careful and done all he wanted._" He pushed his hands through his hair in agitation and then he heard him and his body froze.

"Well now Willie, I must commend you this time you did do everything I told you and did not manage to mess up the simple things I had laid out for you. Now, this is going to be a little more difficult, but I am sure this one task you can handle." Barnabas pushed past the young boy sat in the fireside chair and glanced at him. Willie had seen that look before and it usually meant he was planning on killing someone.

"Wh, wh, what do you want me to do?" He stuttered shifting his weight from one foot to another. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets.

Barnabas studied him for a moment and found him lacking in all respects and a pathetic excuse for a human being but he was his slave and he needed him for now.

"I want you to go and find a coffin in the cemetery, bring it here and put silver crosses on the inside and crosses on the outside and chains with heavy locks. Then I want you to find some holy water, if you must break into the Catholic Church to steel it just do it and do not get caught. Finally, Doctors Hoffman and Lang will need to get them some silver chains they will need them taken to their lab. They also said something about ultraviolet lights, that might be used in their lab, they will explain it to you, but we will be having a guest and this guest is going to help us get Miss Winters back."

Willie looked up less pensive and more hopeful while he listened to what he was suppose to do. "O… o … o kay, I can do that." Willie started to turn to leave.

"Hold it Willie, I am not finished. You are going to make a trip tomorrow." Barnabas watched the young turn and a part of him wanted to stand and shake him to make him less jittery and to listen to him. "Now, there is a crate arriving in Bangor tomorrow at the central postal service. You will need to drive and pick it up and bring the crate to me is that understood?" He looked up with a degree of patience but more out of cold determination to make this simpleton understand how important this was.

"Why would they let me have something for Quentin Collins?" Willie asked innocently enough but saw that Barnabas had just taken a pause before continuing with his part of the conversation. He gulped and then lowered his eyes he watched Barnabas lower his gaze to the floor and sigh heavily. "Willie, I am not about to go over this more than once, just listen and keep quiet."

Willie shut his mouth and stood sullenly before Barnabas. "In my library on my desk are forms of Identification, they will identify you as Quentin, they will not question you. Once you have obtained the crate you will bring it back to the mausoleum and put it in the secret room." Barnabas stood. "Now I am going to Collinwood to visit with Elizabeth and Roger, I will leave the rest of this evening to you to obtain what I have requested." Willie started to leave. "Oh Willie." Barnabas spoke softly turned to watch the boy's body stiffen and then he once again froze with his back to Barnabas, his bottom lip quivered,

"Yeah?" He stood shivering wondering if he was going to go off and then heard him once again in his mind.

"_Do not disappoint me Willie, be sure you return with the object and any monies that you do not require on this trip will be expected to be brought back. I want receipts for everything."_ The words in his mind were cold and demanding. Willie just nodded his head then headed out the front door.

Collinwood Quentin's bedroom

Quentin sat at the desk in his room. His mind was trying to wrap itself around what he had learned earlier from Barnabas. He knew it all and he knew it compliments of that bitch Magda. Rising from the desk he stepped to check the picture hidden in its tight little cubbyhole and sighed deeply seeing the frame poking its head out. Closing the secret panel he walked back and sat down. Rubbing his fingertip over his bottom lip he thought a moment. What Barnabas had proposed earlier just may work, if they timed it right and then perhaps Trask and he would never have to worry about Knightwing again.

Rising he walked to the dresser he opened the top drawer and pulled out the picture of a lovely young woman with long dark hair and open sparkling brown eyes that had a soulful look to them. "Ah Daphne how would I have felt had it been you that Alexandru had taken? I think I would react the same as my cousin." Putting the picture away he turned to stand in front of his window and peer out at the shadows that appeared to come alive in the light of the moon.

His mind had gone back to that night that he first changed into that hideous monster that was a werewolf. The pain and the loss of memory and waking up in shredded clothing and covered in blood. The sickening realization that he had killed someone and not know whom it might have been. He recalled how he had read about the hand of Petofi and how it could heal or kill then one that was allowed to wield such power. Something that would easily alter his life and he had begun his search, knowing that on the full moon he would need to be locked up or sequestered somewhere he could not harm another.

But no matter what was done, he had always managed to break out and had sought his kill, to wake up disoriented, his clothing shredded and the taste of blood in his mouth and blood on his clothing. The Petoffi hand had been thought to be a godsend but they were unable to use it because it seemed to back fire on him and the others that had tried to help. It had not been until Petofi himself had offered him a solution to this problem.

A knock on the door had interrupted his reverie of those times in the past and now he wanted to just face the future and have some fun. That was why he had taken up writing and had become very successful at it. Opening the door he peeked out to see David standing in the middle of the hallway. "David my boy what did you need?"

David shrugged and then said softly, "Sarah says Vicki is in trouble because of you. I want to know if that is true. Sarah says she may not be coming back and she may die."

Quentin shot his glance around the hallway and then jerked the young boy into the room "Now who is this Sarah and what would she know about Vicki or for that matter where Vicki went?"

David walked to the desk and looked at the sticks lying there. "These are I-Ching sticks, do you know how to use them?" He turned holding up one to the ninth parallel. Stepping to him, Quentin took the stick from his fingers and laid it down with the other sticks.

"Yes, I know how to use them and how they can be dangerous if misused. Now answer my question David. Who is this Sarah?" Quentin slid the roll top down on his desk then turned leading David to the chair by his fireplace.

"Sarah is a friend of mine, she says she used to live here a long time ago." David sat back on Quentin's sofa and his feet did not touch the floor so he swung them back and forth. "She died a long time ago when she was young." Quentin studied the young man and had heard rumors he was endowed with the abilities to see and speak to the dead, he knew he could be a medium to some degree, but all he had read and researched he knew that children were more susceptible to the appearance of those that had passed over but were not ready to leave and were earth bound. Because of some unresolved issues.

"Do tell me more David, I am very interested in this Sarah." Quentin pulled his chair over and sat in front of David. "So you are telling me Sarah is a ghost?"

David nodded slowly and then frowned, "But she is more than just a ghost Quentin, she knows things. She knew that Maggie was not really dead, she knew that Vicki needed to go back in time to save the Collins Family and now she says that Vicki is in danger and could die." David folded his arms with a decided nod with his arms crossing his chest. Taking up a defensive pose.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Collinwood Quentin's room

"I see so she told you what about Miss Winters?" Quentin sat back and crossed his knee over his other knee and he too folded his arms over his chest.

"She said that Vicki was kidnapped and taken to Bucharest. I looked it up and its near a place called Transylvania and she says that the man is treating her mean and keeping her on some kind of shots that are making her very sick. That she may die before she gets to come home."

Quentin frowned and stood shifted with a degree of agitation to the window to look out. "Sarah may be right, that is why we need to say nothing to your Aunt or your Father about what is going on with Vicki. Barnabas and I are going to bring her home safe and sound and I need your promise that you won't mess this up or Vicki could die, do you understand David?"

David stood and nodded his look as grave as Quentin. "I understand and will do what you want for now Quentin, but she better not be hurt when she comes home, or I will make you sorry." David turned ran to the door, opened it and dashed out into the hallway and out of sight.

"I guess I need to do what Barnabas said and get ready for a battle that may bring down our whole family." He spoke out loud and mostly to himself. He was recalling the look on the lovely young woman's face when she had walked in on him when he was in the shower. She was shocked and embarrassed.

"Yes Quentin Collins, you must do as Barnabas says or she will die." The young voice of the child startled him and he turned to peer at the small pretty girl in period clothing.

"Sarah Collins?" He asked astonished that she had chosen to speak to him.

"Yes, I am Sarah. Barnabas is not a bad man he cannot help himself and he does care about Miss Winters and so do I. We all have decided to help him anyway we can. So, you need to do exactly as he says." She had her arms locked behind her back and was twisting back and forth on her feet when she spoke.

"Who are we?" Quentin was curious while conversing with the little girl.

"Josette, Burke, Daniel, and there is another lady that joined us recently and she is not happy with you either. She says you were mean to her sister and she is very upset with you."

Quentin sighed deeply looked down and said softly, "Magda?" Then looked to Sarah for confirmation.

"Yes, that is her name she talks funny and always makes jingling noises when she walks. She says you are a no good womanizer that should be horse whipped." Sarah's innocent perception of everything she had heard was somewhat amusing to Quentin. He has to go with the old adage 'from the mouths of babes.'

"I see, she must really hate me. Well she is a gypsy and she thinks all men are womanizers and should be horse whipped." Quentin stated dryly and continued to watch the young girl.

"I know, but she is really the maddest at you. She says that Miss Winters would not be in this trouble if it were not for you." Sarah meandered around the room, taking her fingertips to dance them over the various pieces of furnishings in the room and paused in front of the panel that held his portrait. "I know what is in there and it makes you look really ugly."

She turned and stepped back to peer out of the window of his room. Quentin studied the little girl and spoke softly, "I know I was not really very nice when I was younger and rather enjoyed a naughty way of life."

Sarah turned to smile, her face lit up with the smile and he found her rather enchanting. "You just really like women and can't make up your mind which one you like the best." She had stated it so simply that it made Quentin laugh.

"Yes, that is it exactly. I do love a lot of women and they are all so wonderful with their own perfect qualities that I don't know which one I would like the best." Quentin stood and turned his back. "So how do you plan to help us with rescuing Miss Winters?"

He turned back to see she had disappeared and he sighed. "Oh well so much for my talk with a ghost."

Collinwood

Barnabas knocked on the front doors of Collinwood. He was a little concerned that Willie would not fulfill his part of the scenario that he had etched out for Quentin. He just hoped he was smart enough to understand how important his part was in this whole mess. He also began to wonder if he should have told Quentin about his life and what he was. He was not sure Quentin was responsible enough to keep his secret. At least he had Quentin's secret to use against him should he try to back out of what Barnabas was planning.

The door opened and Carolyn stood dressed nicely in a pink two-piece suit her hair was styled up in large curls on her head and she smiled bright eyed to her cousin. "Oh Cousin Barnabas nice to see you. Mother is in the drawing room with Uncle Roger and some guests a Miss Cassandra Blair and her brother Nicholas." Carolyn breezed past him and out the door.

Barnabas turned to peer at her, "You are not staying?" He watched her pause, pivoted on the balls of her feet and looked at him.

"Not tonight, I have a date with an old friend from High School. His name is Buzz and that should drive my mother crazy." She laughed lightly and disappeared down the drive headed to the garage.

Barnabas entered the foyer took his coat off and laid his cane on his coat, then stepped to the closed drawing room doors and knocked. "Come in." That was Elizabeth's voice.

Barnabas opened the door expecting to see Elizabeth and Roger entertaining but his eyes locked on the dark hair woman with shining blue eyes that mocked him with their brightness. She held a solid wide smile on her lips while she studied Barnabas in the doorway.

"Oh Barnabas do come in and Roger get him a drink so we may toast your good news!" Elizabeth seemed to be pleased to see him but more pleased over the impending announcement.

Barnabas held up his hand, "No really not necessary for me thank you. News?

Roger had poured the drink and handed it to his cousin. "Yes, you must drink a toast with us, we were about to toast my impending marriage to Cassandra. Barnabas this is Cassandra Blair and her brother Nicholas and Cassandra has agreed to become my wife."

Barnabas looked over at the woman that was portraying her self as Cassandra. He took the glass and lifted it as the salute to their impending nuptials were toasted, Barnabas barely touched his lips to the glass he looked with a hint of deadly anger for Cassandra pretending to be happy with the idea of marrying Roger Collins.

"Mr. Collins you seem to be less than enthusiastic for my upcoming wedding to Roger, are you not happy for your cousin?" Cassandra could not help but rub in the fact she was about to become a Collins.

Barnabas studied her from his vantage point near the piano and spoke thoughtfully, "No not in the least, I hope you both are very happy together and that you finally get what is coming to you." He lifted the glass and pretended to drink to his own toast.

"Well now that sounded suspiciously like a bad omen getting what she deserves? My sister deserves the best and she feels that is Roger and I must agree with her, Roger Collins is quite the catch for my sister." Nicholas used his own charm to smile and goad Angelique with Barnabas' toast.

"Now Nicholas, you should not tease Mr. Collins so, we have only just met him and that is not very polite." Cassandra's voice purred while chiding her brother.

"Of course my dear you are right, I was just teasing but I do believe Mr. Collins has a sense of humor and can understand my teasing, is that not right Mr. Collins?" Nicholas smiled and then lowered his gaze, his own thoughts were that Collins knew something he did not know and that annoyed him somewhat.

"Am I missing out on the party?" Quentin waltzed into the room and paused seeing Cassandra and he turned mildly pale and turned to peer at Barnabas.

Roger feeling rather jovial turned to pour Quentin a drink. "You have arrived just in time Quentin, this is Cassandra and the future Mrs. Roger Collins." Quentin composed himself he turned and took the drink that Roger offered.

"Thank you Roger to your future happiness may it be everything you hoped and that you and the future Mrs. Collins is everything you wished for and more." Quentin turned, took a drink and gave Barnabas a warning glance then looked down at his drink.

Angelique was almost feeling like the cat that had gotten all of the cream when Quentin arrived in the room. She had all the major players at her disposal and soon she would be the second reigning mistress of Collinwood.

Carpathian Mountains

In a room of a huge cold castle high in the mountains near the Burgos Pass, Victoria Winters felt her body shudder she had begun to go through the withdrawals of the drugs that had been used on her for over five days. The addiction had set in on the third day when she was being given more and more to make her talk freely of her knowledge of certain information she must have held in her deepest parts of her subconscious mind.

The end to the injections finally came on her fifth day and Klaus had reassured her that she would not need any more shots. She thought she was going to be fine. Then the shakes hit and the craving for the drug began to eat at her and she felt as if she would rend her flesh from her body to get the drug. She cried, and begged and finally she found herself throwing up, anything that she tried to eat or drink. She sweated and cried for the drug and then she slept fitfully.

On the fifth day they had moved her weaken body to this place and she now found she was much better but still feeling weak and chilled. Her eyes were distant sitting on the window seat and watched the sunset on the snow-capped mountains. A part of her knew that at one time she would have loved to see the beauty of this place but it was wasted on her drifting mind. She even wondered if this was gong to be her last day alive she allowed herself to fall into a deep depression.

At night her dreams were filled with the kind features of a man she knew she was growing to love. His sad brown eyes that would alight when they spoke of things from the past. The timber of his voice when he read certain passages from the book they had selected to discuss its contents and meaning of the authors. Even now she could feel the tenderness of his caress when he swept an errant strand of hair from her face to peer deeply into her eyes his with a questioning look. Blinking back tears she wiped them from her cheeks and turned to the sound of the door opening.

"Good evening my dear, I see you are feeling better, would you like to try some soup?" He held a tray set with a silver server covering a bowl and some crackers on another plate. Vicki turned away from him and watched the mountains.

"I am not hungry thank you." She spoke softly and clutched her hands together to keep them from trembling.

Klaus frowned, he had not like the way things had gone and he was sorely put out with Alexandru for pushing her so hard. He hated that the light of life had slowly died in her addiction and that her hair that once shined gloriously with its color was now dull and hung in oily strands down her face and back. "I suppose we should try to get you bathed, your hair washed and dressed. Alexandru would like to see you in the drawing room tonight."

Vicki sighed and turned to look back at Klaus, "Is tonight the night I die?" She asked with no emotion.

Klaus was taken aback at her perception of how serious her plight had become. "I think you need to redirect your thoughts my dear, there has been some developments and I understand another guest shall be arriving tomorrow perhaps the two of you could keep each other company when she arrives."

Vicki looked down at the lovely satin robe she wore; it was a deep emerald green and would have complimented her hair and eyes before. Now when she stared at her image she saw gaunt features, sunken eyes, and a skeletal form that had once been her figure. Her pallor was due to her being so ill from the withdrawals. Her hair was falling out in clumps and she wondered if it would ever look as glorious as Barnabas had once called it when he brushed it from her face. Rising she walked towards the bathing room and paused. "I just want to know if I should bother with a bath or wash my hair if I am to die, I really don't care to waste my time or energy bathing." Her words had grown so matter of fact and cold that Klaus felt they truly had broken her.

"Victoria it is my understanding that you are going to be returned home. That you are not going to die and what we wished and were holding you for has now changed hands and there is someone else that we are dealing with on the matter. He will not be forthcoming with what we want, if you are harmed or damaged. He has requested your doctor to come and check you personally to show that there is proof of life. You my dear have now become a very integral part in the negotiations."

Klaus had said as much of what he knew Alexandru was going to tell her but he had said more and hoped that she would at least show some life at the thought of someone coming from Collinwood to check on her. He watched her shoulders rise and fall as if she had taken a long deep breath.

"As you wish, I will bathe and wash my hair. Will some one come to fetch me when I am needed?" She paused in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Yes, we will have a maid come to dress your hair and help you dress." He spoke with kind soft words but knew that she no longer trusted him and this did bother him. He had grown fond of her while she was being held and now he wanted only her safe keeping and maybe some affection returned. He did not have the heart to tell her that she would never leave their company alive, that once they had the artifact that Alexandru wanted her dead on the spot of the exchange as a warning to anyone that ever hoped to betray him. He was not sure how that would play out.

He did know he did not wish to be present for the exchange and he did not want to see her die in front of him. Not while he held affection for her. He had to think of something to possibly give her longer life once the exchange happened. He could not just let her end that way. He turned to leave her to her bath and stepped from the room, his mind trying out different scenarios where he could rescue her from the fate Alexandru had planned for her.

Eagle Hill Cemetery

Willie bumped and chugged along the old graveyard road, he was dirty, he was angry, and he was scared. "_Why the hell does this place always have to be covered in fog when I come here?"_ He thought as he swerved again because he thought he saw something that moved. "_Shit!" _The old tombstones were playing tricks on him in this fog. He did at least tell the occupant of the last coffin he was sorry when he dumped their bones back into the grave and covered it with the dirt he had just dug out.

"_Willie, will you please control yourself, you are distracting me with your constant anxiety_." There it was again, his voice in Willie's mind. "_Language Willie, I do not need to hear your expletives while I am socializing, you know I really should either bring you over or kill you for all the trouble you are causing me with these spurts of temper you are having_." That shut Willie down with absolute fear. Hearing this threat made him less afraid of the spooks in the cemetery and the fog so he was able to concentrate on the old rutted road.

He began to think about how much he had accomplished so far, and it came down to just getting the coffin back to the old house. He was glad he had that wench on the back of his truck. He had been pretty careful to select a grave that had recently been dug. The ground had been soft, and easy enough to shovel out. Though at one point he had been tempted to take the back hoe he saw up by the tool shed and come out here but he knew that he could be more easily discovered.

"_Yes, Willie, do go and get the big machine that chews up the earth and makes a lot of noise in doing so, do go and get it and see how far you get. Do you want to tell Sheriff Patterson why you are in the graveyard in the middle of the night digging up a grave? How incredibly stupid can you get_?"

There it was he in his mind chastising him for wanting to cut down on some time. He wanted to rail out at him and tell him what he really thought and threatened to leave, but then there was that pull that kept him from leaving and knowing he would hunt him down and kill him. Willie loved life too much to want to give up on it. So he did as he was told and that was spending three hours shoveling the soft heavy dirt out of the grave until he hit the vault. Now there was the hitch. That vault had to weigh five hundred pounds, so he crawled out of the grave and found the chains, then putting them around the vault, he went up and turned the wench on. The grinding sound of the wench and the whine it made as it tugged against the weight it was pulling was loud enough to wake the dead.

He laughed, as he thought about something waking the dead until the friggin fog set in and began to swirl in pools around the tombstones some of them as old as the bastard that had brought him to this point in his life. He watched the vault shift then slide and finally pulled the casket with it up at an angle and refused to go any further. Feeling Willie's frustration Barnabas reacted by spilling the drink he had been handed and apologized to his host. Roger stepped quickly to get him a rag to daub the alcohol off his coat and immediately got him another drink under protest. "It really is not necessary Roger, I believe all the toasts for your impending nuptials have been exhausted and I really must be going, I need to change and Quentin did promise me another round to our ongoing chess match."

"But Barnabas you both just got here, surely you can stay a little longer, I can have Mrs. Johnson clean your coat and press it for you. I even have another coat I could loan you. I believe we are the same build." Roger was most insistent and he had sent a silent plea for Quentin's help.

"Actually Roger, after my chess game with Barnabas. I must go and meet Gregory Trask we have some legal business to discuss regarding my next book." Roger did look disappointed he finally capitulated. However the two new comers to Collinwood shot glances of curiosity back and forth to each other while they studied the nervous actions of the other two male Collins family members.

"Roger do not delay the gentlemen from their business, you of all should know how important that male bonding can be and our news is now growing as cold as the tea in that cup on the table." Angelique had offered them an out.

For the first time in nearly two hundred years Barnabas was grateful to Angelique for showing some degree of mercy but hesitated for a moment to wonder what she intended for giving them both a break. Taking the cue, Quentin turned to Barnabas, "I know you don't drive would you like a lift to the old house? I have my car in the garage." Barnabas set the glass down and smiled his appreciation to Quentin.

"Thank you that is most kind of you cousin. It would get us to the chess match quicker so you can take care of your business in Collinsport." Quentin turned offering his charming smile as an apology Elizabeth and Roger, bowed formally to Angelique, shook Nicholas' hand and headed for the door with Barnabas in tow.

"We need to go to Eagle Hill Cemetery, now." Barnabas spoke softly to Quentin once they closed the car doors and sat in the dark confines of the car.

"Why?" It was a natural reaction and the question was one that should have been expected. However it seemed to Barnabas that Quentin was trying to be difficult.

"Because that fool Willie was sent to get a coffin and he was so lazy he has taken short cuts and now is in trouble. We must go and help him." Barnabas was showing his irritation in the clipped tone of his voice by speaking rapidly.

Quentin sighed, the last place he wanted to be was a cemetery in the middle of the night with another storm making land fall in a few hours. The weather reports had been pretty specific that the late summer storm was making its way to land fall as a tropical depression, which meant rain and wind. "I suppose we should head there now."

They had pulled into the nearest entrance and Quentin shut off his engine he frowned, "How the hell are we going to find him now?"

Barnabas stepped out, laid his cane in the back seat, and turned to Quentin, "Wait here." Stepping into the now forming fog Quentin watched him shift to mist form and marveled at the ability to do that.

"Then next curse I get I want that one." He muttered softly he watched a bat appear overhead, in a few seconds the bat was back and then as quickly the sound of its piercing call echoed around him, the bat was gone. "God I hate bats." Quentin shivered and pulled his coat collar closer to his neck and was glad he had worn a hat. Then with the fog swirling and curling its way around him and the surrounding area; a misty form of a man appeared and from that form Barnabas stepped from the fog.

"This way, I found him." Barnabas turned and waited for Quentin caught up with him. "The fool has a concrete apparatus hung up and the coffin he so diligently tried to retrieve is hung with it."

"So, that must be what they call the vault, its something that law requires you to have now when you bury someone." Quentin observed nearing the back edge of the cemetery and he could see the outline of a old beater truck backed up to an area. The sound of the wench was beginning to have an over worked sound which was a grinding whine . "If he continues to try and pull it up with that wench it will burn up his wench."

"_WILLE_!" He shouted mentally to Willie. Willie's frustration and growing anger was washing over him in waves and Barnabas had to block any further thoughts or he would beat the man to death.

Willie hearing the shout in his mind jumped and screamed out loud, "WHAT!" His frustration and anger was making him less than cautious when dealing with Barnabas. He was about at his wits end, the wench was starting to burn out and the damn vault was wedged in the grave. So when he shouted in his mind, it made Willie jump and it made him angrier, and this time he did not care if the old Bastard beat him to death, at this point that would be more preferable than this living hell and the fear of being caught.

"Lower your voice Willie, we are right behind you to help." Barnabas spoke out loud and by the reaction Quentin observed surmised it must be something Barnabas had done with the hapless Willie.

Willie spun around and looked up seeing two figures appear out of the fog. Willie was about to jump out of his skin, when the two large figures loomed over head, then realizing it was Barnabas and Quentin he relaxed momentarily. "I . . I . . I got the vault stuck."

Barnabas sighed deeply, jumped into the pit reached for the vault, and lifted it off the casket; he looked at Willie with derision and waited for him and Quentin to pull the casket out of the hole. Quentin lifted the one end, while Willie manhandled the butt end out of the hole. Willie shoved, Quentin pulled and they finally had the casket on the ground next to the open grave.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Eagle Hill Cemetery

Willie crawled up beside the grave and the casket, shuddered at the thought of what he was doing. "Get on with it Willie, I don't have all night to mess with a project I delegated to your obviously incompetent hands." Barnabas voice was now edging on the thin thread of civility rasping out his demands.

Quentin had turned to undo the chain from the wench he waited for Willie to dump the dead body into the grave. Willie broke the latch on the casket, looked down at the sunken features of the man that laid in his Sunday best with hands clasped together and his face set in that same sewn into place look of peace, he turned the casket on its side and Willie could have sworn when the body landed with a sickening crunch in the bottom of the grave he had heard the man scream out, "NOOOOOOOO!"

Jumping back with a thump of the casket, Willie's eyes widen and then realized he had just imagined the shout. Closing the lid he lifted one end of the casket to the tailgate of his truck, with Quentin's help he shoved the casket up into the bed of the truck. The sound of clinking could be heard from the chains he had used earlier. Barnabas had taken the chains off of the vault and thrown them up on the ground; causing Willie to scramble back to avoid being hit. Barnabas waited and when the body landed next to him, he turned and dropped the vault over the body. Jumping up and out of the grave with a power that had never been witnessed before by either man; Barnabas landed with a surety of foot on the ground. He watched dispassionately Willie putting the chains in the bed of the truck.

"I hope that you at least have been able to accomplish the other part of your instructions without mishaps?" Barnabas brushed the dirt from his coat and hands he glanced with irritation at Willie.

Willie wanted to shout out F-U but kept his temper and nodded slowly, "Um yeah, sure, sure I have the chains and the crosses in the truck and the silver in the cab of my truck." He looked anxiously around the graveyard then back at Barnabas, pushing his hair back and leaving a muddy streak across his forehead.

"Then I suggest you get on with your projects before you get us all caught, cover that grave and head back to the old house and get cleaned up." His words had been clipped and filled with aggravation. Willie wondered if he would get another beating when he got back to the old house.

He knew Barnabas was most assuredly the double A's, which was anxious, and aggravated, he wondered if he had made the third A which was Angry. It was not the angry that upset Willie it was the mega angry that scared the shit out of him. Willie had rated Barnabas at the angry levels. The first level was not so bad and that was the level his voice displayed now.

The first level was just that, angry, the second level was slap angry, that was when his voice raised and if Willie was nearby Barnabas would draw back his hand and open palm slap him leaving a welt or sting to his cheek. Willie had grown used to that level of angry, seems he was always that way when it was something Willie had done that was minor. But the 'Mega your gonna get an ass beating angry' was the one he feared the most. That was the one where his voice was very controlled and he could see the spark in his narrowed eyes and the compression of his lips after he had spoken softly. Then it would come, the beating and those were getting worse each time he was beaten. At least he could still count on his fingers the number of times he had received that beating. The time before he had the beating over upsetting Vicki, he had suffered a broken knuckle, two fingers and three cracked ribs. But each time the old Bastard had given him some of that nasty tasting blood and he had healed quick enough to be worked to near exhaustion the next day. So Willie figured that he was still of some use otherwise he figured he would have been in that grave with that molding body.

Now watching the headlights dancing crazily over the rutted roadway and the tail pipe belched out the black smoke of burning oil, Willie swallowed hard and felt a shiver up his spine, had he been sent to get this casket for his body? He was not going to stay around to find out once he put the casket where he was instructed and then there it was again, only this time it was edging towards the Mega Anger level. The voice was subtle soft and controlled.

"_Willie will you for once just do as your told and keep your mind on your current instructions. All this unnecessary thinking is beginning to wear on me, do not make me have to give you that Mega Anger beating you are so torturing yourself with at this time. If I had wanted you dead, you are right you would have been in that grave with poor Mr. Hamilton. Now focus, Damnit!" _

That voice made him break out in a cold sweat as he drove along the narrow roadway, the chains rattling in the bed of the truck and the thump of the casket as it bucked and then landed on the bed along with the chains. "Just get yourself home Willie, get back to the old house and don't get caught." He thought if he spoke out loud it would make it move faster and the eerie area he had found himself in would not be so frightening.

Then it started, the low rumble of thunder in the distance, and the lightening streaking is jagged fingers across the night sky lighting up the fog filled area. "Great now we are gonna get a storm. Well he was smart to have that natural gas powered generator put in at least we will have lights." He drove into the fog-shrouded darkness feeling a little better that this leg of his journey was over.

Barnabas had turned to his chauffer, "You know what you must do to get Clark to come to the old house?" Barnabas needed a distraction from the chaotic thoughts of one Willie Loomis that would surely drive him to kill or kill Willie.

Quentin to placate him knowing that he was still angry with Willie spoke slowly and softly. "Yes, I will take the letter to Clark at Lookout Point, then I will come back to the old house. I hope that I have time to get back and in place. You will otherwise keep him busy. The doctors will be in place and if Willie manages to get back to the old house, we will have the other safe guards put in place."

"Excellent, it seems to be working so far except for Willie's inability to obtain a simple coffin." Barnabas observed dryly.

"Cut the boy some slack Barnabas, those vaults weigh easily five hundred pounds a single man; except for you, obviously would be pressed to lift one by himself. For what he was given he has managed to do as he was told." Quentin softly chided Barnabas for being too harsh on Willie.

Barnabas listened absently while he played his fingers over his cane and watched the passing area. An occasional flash of lightening would lighten the area and he was reminded of such times in the past when he did not care that a storm was about to wash over the land, it only meant that Jeremiah would be delayed getting home and gave him more time in Josette's arms.

"Yes, I suppose you are right. But we will see if he got everything. Willie usually forgets one thing unless I write it down for him." Barnabas spoke dryly continuing with his observations.

Quentin sighed, "How did you find Willie?"

Barnabas smiled, "He was weak minded, he was looking at my portrait and I had waited centuries for someone like him, his greed was his undoing. He had been tormenting members of the family and even had Miss Winters cornered in the library, he had so upset Carolyn that she pulled a gun on him. When he finally was ready to make his move and leave Collinsport, he was drawn to the mausoleum where I had been waiting for two centuries for someone like Willie."

Quentin was amazed to hear that Willie's background had been larcenous and brutal bordering on a woman abuser and a thief. "Really, he was living in Collinwood? Why on earth would Elizabeth have allowed him there?"

"Because she was being blackmailed by a former acquaintance that brought Willie here. One Jason Maguire, a petty thief, philanderer and dead beat." Barnabas had that dry tone again while speaking of this Jason Maguire.

"What happened to this Jason fellow?" Quentin navigated with some difficulty the road to the old house which now laid under the heavy fog bank that kept rolling in from the ocean and had taken on a supernatural and surreal feel to it. 

"He is dead and will never bother anyone or blackmail them again." Barnabas voice took on a self-satisfied sound and tone when speaking of Maguire, "Something I must say I rather enjoyed doing." He was watching the front of the car and the lights and noted that they barely cut through the fog.

"How or why did you have to kill him?" Quentin could not conceive of someone killing another human being without a single thought and sounding so emotionless about it. A character that would bear being put in his next murder mystery. Someone that felt someone needed to die and did not think much about it once he was dead.

"He found me in my coffin as I was waking up from my sleep of the dead. He was being very ungracious and very demanding towards my man Willie, so I ended him and he is buried in an unmarked grave. Where he shall remain for the rest of eternity." Again there was that tone to his voice that he did not care that Maguire was dead.

"I see so it was for self-preservation? " Quentin was trying to wrap his mind around this thought and could easily understand the killing to protect him self from exposure.

"No I would have done it sooner except for the fact I truly thought Elizabeth wanted to marry the man." Again a revelation that had surprised and now confused Quentin.

"It sounds like I have been gone too long and the family has acquired some new history I needed to be made aware of and probably would have stuck my foot up this Maguire's ass if I had known what was going on." Quentin was now taking on the same dry tones that Barnabas had been expressing.

"I am going to say this much, when he came to town I was involved with the transformation of Maggie Evans into Josette Collins, and was failing miserably, Maguire threatened that to some extent had he actually interfered at the time, I would have killed him then. As it was I had my hands full. Miss Evans was slowly going mad and I was at a loss as to what to do with her." Barnabas had now confessed another of his darkest secrets to his cousin.

"I thought you were interested in Vicki?" Quentin finally arrived at the gate to the graveled roadway to the old house. Navigating his large comfortable car through the gates he thought secretly that Barnabas should have it paved. His thoughts briefly distracted by the sounds of the rock hitting his car and him cringing at the thought they were denting the paint job.

"I am interested in Victoria, she has become very important to me and when I get my hands on the men that have harmed her, you may not wish to stay around. I will rend them to bloody pieces and leave the remains for the carrion to eat and carry off." Now there was a voice that was rather chilling to hear knowing what he did about Barnabas, Quentin had no doubt he would do as he said. "However at the time I was searching for a duplicate of Josette in image and not in spirit."

"So you found this Maggie Evans and she resisted?" Quentin tried to find a common ground that would put them on terms of being confidants with each other.

"She did not resist at first, she was rather easy to manipulate but something interfered and she soon failed in being Josette simply because her mind was not strong enough and her will was weakened by her isolation from her boyfriend and her father. I made them think she was dead and I told her they thought she was dead. At that point she gave up and then she fought me over control. I caught her about to plunge a stake into my heart and she broke after that."

Quentin frowned; he had recalled when he was here a few years ago when he was pretending to be his father, and had met this lovely young girl that was just beginning to bloom into a fine young woman. He thought at that time she was close to Carolyn's age and she had worked at the restaurant at the Collinsport Inn, at the time she was maybe sixteen. "You say she went mad?"

Barnabas nodded, "Yes, she said she had a playmate and they sang together and played ball. As she was totally by herself in that cell in the cellar, there was no way that there could have been a playmate for her. If anything she became very child like and started to emulate a child in her actions."

Quentin had felt sorry for the girl he could imagine a strong willed individual giving up their will and control would break and revert to child like actions, he had read of such things. He looked up and saw they were arriving at the end of the driveway to the old house. "You really should get this drive paved, it would make it easier to navigate in the winter and would not damage the cars that drive up here."

Barnabas considered his suggestion then waved it off. "I do not plan to have very many visitors in my current set of circumstances I rather like my solitude and my location is perfect for what I do and need."

Quentin had to agree he was probably right, and shut off his car. "Well it looks like the doctors are here, are you ready to let them in on the total plan?" Barnabas considered his options he opened his car door and stepped out into the swirling fog bank.

"I am considering sending one of them to Bucharest to make sure Vicki is still alive, and for that I need you to have Trask contact this Knightwing and tell him we want to send the doctor and with our counter proposal, he may have Bradford/Clark along with the artifact and see what kind of reaction we get." Barnabas stepped towards the front steps and walked up them, paused and looked around a feeling of unease was creeping up his neck and he did not like what he was feeling. It was unseen eyes that were watching their every move.

Lookout Pointe

Roger escorted Angelique and Nicholas back to their hotel room at Lookout Point. With a chaste kiss and a bat of lashes offering a promise of more to come, Angelique sent Roger on his way and entered her room. The connecting doors to the room opened and Nicholas entered the room.

"Well, that was rather anticlimactic, you are accepted by the sister, your future in laws seem to wish to accept you and you are about to get everything you dreamed of for over two centuries, I suppose you feel very proud of your self?" Nicholas sat in the nearest chair in the large comfortable room and flopped down on the chair draping a leg over the arm.

Angelique stepped further into the room and that very well known and expected laughter filled the room she hugged her arms to her body and spun around the room. "I will own this town before all is said and done!" Her eyes were alight with her mischief she had been mixing up and now she was going to be the queen bee in this town, nothing could stop her now! Nothing. She slipped across her bed and crossed her ankles then looked up at Nicholas. "I saw you with that Evans girl tonight. Do you not find it ironic she looks so much like Josette? No wonder Barnabas went for her like he did." Angelique rolled over on her back and watched the ceiling and the ceiling fan make its slow rotations as it turned on low speed. She sighed contentedly and smiled. "I am finally going to have everything. I am going to be wealthy, and Peter will have to come to me. I am sure he will be jealous once he sees I am married to Roger Collins."

"Do not get too ahead of yourself my dear you are yet to be married to him! After tomorrow then I will sincerely congratulate you for a job half done." Nicholas shifted around and righted himself to look directly at Angelique. "You have snared your target my dear but you have not field dressed him. So until you do that, you have not succeeded."

"Oh Nicholas you are such a Danny Downer, you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel unless you are at the end of the tunnel. Surely you must agree we have done it!" She laughed again and closed her eyes. "I feel like celebrating would you like some champagne?" She tilted her head up to look at him upside down from her position on the bed.

"No I think I will go and take care of some minor business before tomorrow my dear." He stood up walked to her on the bed, bent over and placed light kiss on her forehead. "Like I said, do not be too over confident. Over confidence has fallen a many a hero my dear and landed them in the hands of our master." Nicholas went back to his room and closed the door between the rooms.

Outside Parking Lot of Lookout Pointe

The four men in the black panel van in the parking lot watched the two rooms and noted when Nicholas left his room. "She is by herself now, send over Rico and Bernie to Angelique's room." Newland gave a look of approval to his partner Richards. "It is time to tag the next one." Said with little emotion while Newland appeared to watch the front of his vehicle.

Richards slipped to the rear of the panel truck, peering at the two techs he spoke in Romanian, Domnilor timp pentru a obține următoarea țintă a face rapid și liniște. Thus telling them to get the next target and to be quick and quiet. Rico looked to Bernie, reached down to a bag under the built in desk and pulled out a dart gun in pistol form tucked it inside of his overalls. The two men got out and walking in tandem headed towards Angelique's room.

A soft knock on the door, Angelique stepped from her bathroom to the door wearing her housecoat, having taken her wig off she had let glorious natural blond hair down; opening the door she paused and looked from one man to the other. "You are not room service. May I help you?"

Ricco looked from Bernie to Angelique, "Please come with us Miss Bouchard." Ricco's voice was heavily accented and Angelique's brow furrowed she spoke sharply.

"I will not come with you, what is this about?" She turned to slam the door and Bernie put his foot in the door and shoved it open. Angelique ran to the other side of the room. Hearing a pop and feeling a sharp pain as a dart hit her in her hip she screamed out in pain. Reaching for the dart in her hip she pulled it out looked over at the two men advancing on her; drawing her hand up and forming a zero with her thumb and forefinger she started to chant softly and then felt her world tilt and her eye lashes flutter and close she slumped gracefully into the arms of Bernie. She had not had enough time to cast the spell she had attempted. "Syringe?" Ricco held out his hand to receive the syringe. Pulling the cap off in his mouth, he jabbed the needle into her hip and depressed the plunger on the syringe. "She will be out for many hours bring her back to the van."

"I will radio Knightwing to tell him we have his mocking bird." Bernie said turning to head back to the panel truck followed by Rico who held Angelique draped over his shoulder. Both men arrived at the panel truck and Rico unceremoniously dumped Angelique on the rear floor and stepped over the top of her. "Airport." Ricco said he sat in front of the radio equipment Bernie set next to him and grabbed the key to the ham radio and began to send Morse code. He repeated his message three times and waited. When he got his confirmation he nodded to Richards and Newland.

Newland engaged the panel truck and drove towards the private airport. Once again like clockwork they unloaded their human cargo into the plane and returned to their vehicle. "Now the alleged brother. We have orders to find out what we can on him."

Richards frowned, "He left a little while ago, that was what made it so easy to grab the woman." Newland smiled and headed his vehicle towards the one hot nightspot in Collinsport.

"I know where he is going. He had an interest in the redhead earlier, we will head that way. I am thinking he is going back there to see if she shows up with that weak chinned boyfriend of hers." Newland was pretty sure he was an excellent study of human nature and this brother had the hots for the redhead.

Ricco and Bernie sat passively and quiet in the rear of the van. Newland navigated the road heading to the Blue Whale. "You know we did not forget the light haired man that was in her room a few nights ago." Newland observed passing the high school.

"I was thinking about him too, he has not been around lately where do you suppose he has gone? We need to tell Knightwing I suppose." Richards offered as an after thought.

"I am pretty sure he probably already knows about him. Have Bernie to radio Knightwing on what he wishes us to do about the brother and the light haired man." Newland disappeared into the rear of the van spoke softly waited and then returned.

"We are to continue to watch them both and find out as much as we can about them. Then report it back to him. He says that one of the doctors will be coming to Bucharest to examine Target one and we are to make sure the doctor is safely on board the plane and off the ground by midnight tomorrow night."

Newland found that interesting. "I wonder what is going on behind the scenes? Things we are not told and information that is held because it is a need to know basis." He mused while navigating the panel truck onto the main street of Collinsport.

"More than they want us to know about that is for sure." Richards spoke pragmatically. Both men grew quiet Newland continued to advance towards the Blue Whale, their directives given and their path set.

Old House Library

Barnabas waited for the phone to ring and when it did he picked it up calmly and spoke in his serious deep voice. "Hello this is Barnabas Collins." He listened to the equally deep voice with a heavy accent on the other end.

"This is Baron Mircea are you the one that has my artifact?" The cultured voice was very well defined from Romanian decent.

"I do, and I presume you are the one that has Miss Winters?" Barnabas was not going to give an inch on this; he was going to make sure that they all knew he was in charge on this end.

"I do have Miss Winters right here, would you like to speak with her?" Alexandru nodded to Klaus he escorted Vicki to a chair by her elbow and seated her. "Sit down my dear." Alexandru handed the phone to her and Vicki took it with a hint of confusion she looked at the handset then lifted it to her ear and spoke softly.

"Hello." Her voice was weak and sounded distant when she spoke.

"Victoria, it is I Barnabas and I want you to know I am sending Doctor Hoffman to Bucharest to examine you."

Tears formed in her eyes and the sound of his voice resonated like a heralding from heaven she breathed deeply and began to cry. "Oh Barnabas, I miss you all so much!" Alexandru pulled the phone from her hands she sat and cried quietly into her hands.

"As you can see Collins she is well." Alexandru was using his superior voice and Barnabas was about to release a far superior voice on him.

"I wish two things and in exchange you will not only get the artifact you so desperately desire to possess but I shall turn over Peter Bradford, weak and unable to defend himself from anything you might wish to do to him." There was in the beginning an expostulated sound of not wishing to comply to silence until Barnabas finished his sentence.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Old House Libarary

"What do you wish?" This Collins that seemed to have more power and command then most he had met and this intrigued Alexandru.

"I wish the exchange to take place here in Collinsport and I wish to send my personal physician over to Bucharest to make sure Vicki is still unharmed. You must forgive my inability to trust you so completely as I trust no one completely." Again there it was that demanding tone that would not accept anything less than his terms. But he had sweetened the deal with the offer to turn over Bradford, something Alexandru had wanted for years but was afraid he was not strong enough to go up against an old vampire with as much power and strength that he had.

"How is this possible that you can bring to me Bradford trussed up like a Christmas goose?" Alexandru did not at first believe Barnabas. He was skeptical about the whole situation. That is until Barnabas divulged what was next on his agenda.

"Because I know his weaknesses and can bring him down. I can make him so weak and near human that whatever you choose to do to him will be acceptable by me as long as I know you have Miss Winters in a safe and secure environment without any further harm or damage done to her." Barnabas was very secure with that last part of his demand and knew it was little to ask if the man truly wanted Bradford and the artifact.

"I shall consider your offer and will call you back tomorrow, I do not mind you sending the doctor but I am not as apt to make the exchange in Collinsport. Perhaps if we did it in another city not so close to your home I would be more inclined to agree totally to your terms." Barnabas did not realize he had played into Alexandru's hands when he offered to come to another city.

"Then I suggest we could do the exchange in Portland it is two hour drive from Collinsport to Portland and you could choose the location once you arrive." Telepathically he was stretching his powers over the telephone line and could feel the weak-minded twit on the other end beginning to cave to his subtle push into his mind.

"That would be more preferable than Collinsport." Alexandru said as if it had been his idea.

"Then Portland it shall be, and the date that is acceptable for the exchange of all parties and items?" Barnabas wanted it to be tomorrow but knew the doctors would need time to administer the drugs they had hoped to use on Bradford, to weaken his powers.

"I will send the doctor tomorrow, the exchange can happen in one week. I will await your decision as to where you wish this exchange to take place." Barnabas did not wait to hear any thing else from the moron on the other end he was beginning to grow tired of him and his superior ignorance and weak-minded way of doing business. So without any further comment he hung up.

"Now then we get Bradford tonight and secure him, you begin the first treatment tonight and it will continue for one week and do you think it will show any results of hurting him by a weeks time?" Barnabas turned to the other three in the room. "Willie picks up the artifact tomorrow in Bangor, we will set up the drawing room and set our trap." Barnabas glanced up he had mentally called Willie to the library.

The scared young man poked his head into the room his eyes wide he waited for permission to enter the room. "Um you wanted me Barnabas?" He was afraid to enter he knew he had pissed him off earlier and then when they got back to the house and discovered he had not gotten the holy water, Barnabas was more than just pissed, he was livid.

"Can you not do one damn thing right Willie? Go now and get the blessed holy water and be quick about it, least I find my cane and beat the living shit out of you!" Willie had scampered out of the old house post haste and disappeared into his beater truck as it belched and moaned its way down the driveway to the main road. The whole time Willie was angry with himself and he knew if he had this much anger in his mind the old Bastard would not enter his thoughts.

St Charles Church Collinsport Maine

But he could hear the recriminations from his boss while he lamented to the others over how utterly incompetent Willie was when it came to simple chores to accomplish. Willie had driven to St Charles and parked across the street and stepped silently to the front door, tried it and let out a soft breath of thanks that the church was still open. Entering the vestibule he entered quietly to the side and looked at the Holy water bowl, reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small bottle and began to fill it when he heard a door open and close.

One of the penguins from the convent next door had come in to pray. She had sat herself in the front row knelt down and lowered her head. Willie trying to be as quiet as possible finished filling up his bottle and then slipped to the door, only his shoe made a scraping noise and the nun who had gone on her knees on the knelling post looked up and around and spoke softly her voice echoing around in the large airy church. "Hello?" Her voice echoed back to her and no response she was now feeling uncomfortable, stood and stepped to the center aisle stopped, genuflected to the alter and turned to look around again. "Is anyone there?"

There was that expression in her voice; that of being the strict school teacher with the ruler to rack your knuckles for talking in class she looked around again and called, "I said is there someone there?" Willie was sure from his past history with this kind of schoolteacher that she could smell his fear and hear his heart beating in his chest and the heavy breathing that came from the terror of being caught being bad. He just knew he had been seen and caught because from what he remembered the penguins had eyes in the back of those habits.. He could hear the rapid footfalls marching with force down the aisle in those heavy shoes. 'Click, click, click, click." Those shoes making their way to the vestibule. He imagined that the nun had walked towards the front door, when she was distracted by the arrival of another nun. "Sister Juliette? I thought you had come to pray?"

"Oh sister Theresa, I thought I heard something and just went to investigate." The small nun turned away from Willie and he used the distraction to dart out the front door and down the steps across the street, to open the door to his truck close it as quietly as he could and duck down in the seat. All of this accomplished, he heard the two nuns checking the front door.

"See I told you it was the wind, it does that if the doors are not secure and the wind picks up they make a noise of opening and closing I am sure that is what you must have heard, we do have a big storm brewing and about to move into the coastal area, the weathermen have been shouting about it all night about the sky is falling like Chicken Little!" She chuckled at her own sarcastic joke and closed the doors, and locked them securely into place.

Willie lay on the seat for another twenty minutes before he dared move and started his truck to head back to the old house. He patted the wet pocket and sighed, he had the small bottle of holy water that had been dripping wet when he put it in his pants pocket and ducked out of the church. He did not care that it may look like he pissed his pants; he was just glad he now had everything that the old man wanted and he could go back and maybe go to bed early tonight.

Old House

Driving back to the old house he was feeling pretty damn snippy he turned up his radio and began to sing to the song that was playing. His voice loud and off key he continued to sing until he got to the cut off that took him to the old house and then he turned the radio down and drove at a more sedate speed. Pulling up to the front of the house he saw the doctors had arrived and Quentin was still there. Skipping up the steps he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small bottle and moaned, it was only half full. Well he could fill it up with water the rest of the way and no one would know the difference.

Hurrying around to the rear entrance he stepped to the facet and filled up the bottle with tap water then wiped the bottle off and walked down the hallway towards the drawing room. Arriving in the drawing room, he laid the bottle of holy water on the secretary and expecting to be dismissed was heading towards the stairs. "Where do you think you are going?" Barnabas' voice was snappish and irritated.

"I thought I was done for the night and was heading to bed." Willie answered shoving his hands into his pockets and looked at Barnabas.

"Not yet you will wait here until I summon you to the library you will have an important roll to play tonight when we have Clark here." That is when they disappeared down the hallway into the library and Willie sat in the chair by the fire and looked guiltily over at the bottle of water.

That is where he sat until he heard Barnabas' voice in his mind. "_Willie you are needed in the library now_." He got up and with an attitude started to the library and heard his voice again. "_Check the attitude at the door before you entered this room_." The voice held an edge to it and he could tell he was irritated about something. He felt a tinge of fear he wondered if Barnabas had figured out he had diluted the holy water with tap water. Then quashed that thought so that Barnabas could not hear it.

"Willie you will be positioned at the front door with the holy water, you will be our last line of defense should Bradford try to escape the drawing room. So when he comes you will stand with your cross and the holy water. Should he make it that far you should throw the holy water in his face that should halt him from escaping and then hold the cross directly in front of you. He cannot look upon the cross or holy symbols they are too horrendous for him."

"Once we have him we will back him down the hallway and into the cellar and the cell below, which you Willie will have already secured with crosses and silver chains to hold him on the wall to keep him from escaping. Silver and crosses and holy water are his main problems that will weaken him. He may have access to the coffin, but you will inset a cross on the inside and on the outside. When he is out for the treatments doctors he should be surrounded at all times by the crosses and the silver chains, he cannot tolerate the silver in the chains and so he will be weakened by all the elements as I have outlined for you all."

Barnabas turned and nodded to Quentin who nodded in return and left the room. "Quentin is going now to bring Bradford back here, you all should check your areas and get ready this is not going to be easy for any of us, he is more powerful because he was the first to turn. He has also had more years to perfect his abilities while I lay in my coffin."

Quentin left and the other three began to prepare for their guest. Barnabas advised them, "I shall have to leave the room, when I leave you all come forward with your crosses be prepared for a violent out burst and whatever you do." He paused to emphasize this part, "Do not look him in the eyes, he can control your mind once he makes eye contact and if that happens we all will have problems. Understood?"

Julia nodded, "This mind control is effective on the weak minded?"

Barnabas sighed "My dear doctor, he will be desperate he will realize that we know what he is and he will be looking for victims and to get control he will exert the mind control over even the most resistant one of you.

Julia smiled, "I could put a post hypnotic suggestion on us all to prevent us from looking into his eyes even if he commands it. Providing a trigger word that will allow us a chance to look away if we are about to give in to his command."

Barnabas liked this idea and nodded, "Then do it but I am not sure how you can do this to yourself?" He was concerned her being a woman might be more susceptible to the suggestion.

"Oh that would be easy, Eric could do it, and he has been taught how and could easily hypnotize me." Barnabas smiled and looked at Willie.

"Do him first, he is the most weak minded amongst us all." Barnabas was being practical. "I am immune to his suggestions but the rest of you are not."

They quickly placed the crosses around the room and over the doors, which was beginning to have an affect on Barnabas and he wondered if he could tolerate being in the room when Bradford arrived but knew he would have to resist the feeling to run away from the cross to support them in their efforts.

Setting their times and places they waited and the flash of the lights across the front window alerted all that their guest had arrived. Eric took up position on one side of the drawing room entrance way, Julia stood by the fireplace to block the exit to the rear of the house and Barnabas stood in front of the window blocking the huge cross across the bay window.

"Everybody ready? Do you know your key word to use to avoid looking at him?" Julia nodded she stood shifting her weight from one foot to another.

"Yes we have the trigger word ready to call out if he tries to take control of our minds. The only weak link on this will be Quentin."

Barnabas smiled, "Do not worry about Quentin, he can handle and had a natural aversion to his charms." The door opened and Willie's heart began to race he stood behind the door and waited, for them to enter. Willie's knew his part kind of sort of in a way. He knew was suppose to stepped to in front of the door lock it. Willie was supposed to slide the huge cross into place. Instead he hugged his cross and the holy water in his hands and knew he should pray. Silently he began to do a silent prayer that he would not need the holy water because he was not sure how effective it might be should he try to use it.

Willie could feel the stress of holding his position with his hands white knuckled around the cross. His other hand clinched the bottle of holy water and a deep part of his mind tried to find a prayer. The only one came to mind was "_Now I lay be down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, if I should die. . . "_ He stopped the prayer he needed a better prayer.

He waited for Quentin to enter with Clark, and then he slipped past them and slipped the cross through the door handles locked the door and took up his position. He had another prayer he had heard as a child, "_Yeah though I walk through the shadows and valley of death . . . _" Shit he needed a prayer that did not involve dying or being dead. He watched the two men step past him and into the drawing room, and that was when he stepped out of the way of the doors, leaving the one cross securely placed in the doors handles.

Reaching for the second cross he had tucked in his belt at the small of his back, he held the bottle of holy water and the holy cross-gripped tightly in his fist. He waited for the cue that all hell was going to break loose. Swallowing the hard knot in his throat he listened, his eyes wide and his knees threatening to give out on him.

Jeff/Peter stepped into the main drawing room and looked with rage and hatred at the man he believed had caused all this heartache a grief. "So Collins, you want to talk? What is there to say?"

Barnabas kept his position so that his back was away from the crosses at the window and to the side of his view over the entry arch of the drawing room. "I asked you here to finally do some good for the rest of my family Jeff or Peter whichever name you wish to be known." Peter stepped further in the room, Julia stepped to the louvered doors, keeping her cross out of sight, while Lang shifted to stand next to Quentin, and slipped him a cross.

The exchange was subtle one hand moved to hand the cross over and the other hand shifted to curl fingers around the cross clutching it tightly and then dragging the cross behind his back. "Whatever you do Quentin, do not look him in the eyes." Lang had whispered softly to Quentin.

Had Jeff not been so filled with anger and rage at seeing his nemesis he would have sensed or known that a very carefully constructed trap had been set and he was the fly to be caught in this web.

"Why would I help your family, for that matter Collins, why would I even care what happens to your family." Jeff had counter measured to Barnabas' position and out of spite put his foot on the chair by the fireplace and folded his arms over the top of his resting leg. "I would celebrate if every last member of your family lay dead and rotting in their graves." His words were filled with contempt he glared through narrow eyes at the man he had hated for almost two centuries.

"I suppose you think that you are the only wronged party in this whole sordid affair? I thought perhaps you might have some remorse for what you had done to me. An injustice for making me into his hideous fiend that cannot love or be loved." Barnabas' voice had slipped into that soft subtle vien that Willie had leaned to call the "mega mad gonna get an ass beating' tone and it made Willie shiver.

"You put me on to the woman as a favor to you. You wanted to play with your Uncle's wife while I took over your other encumbrances and then when I sought my own life and left her in the dust, she was not ready to be relinquished, if anything she professed she still loved me. So why not share my gift she gave me with you who started this mess." Jeff's voice and manner had taken on an equally calculating and controlled sound as he defended his position.

"Because you could have told me no, you could have just flirted with her, you could have just been a gentleman and paid court and not bed her, she would have then moved on." Barnabas did not like the fact he was disrespecting him by putting his dirty shoes on his furnishings. However, they were approaching the delicate part of this confrontation and to secure him for the two doctors would be critical from this point on.

"How convenient for you to dictate to me how I should have handled your former lover. I did it out of loyalty to you as my friend." He had placed the emphasis on the word 'friend' while he spoke and he removed his foot from the chair and stepped back. As he began to turn it dawned on him that he had been brought here under false pretenses.

"NOW!" Barnabas shouted watching the other participants in the room pull out their silver crosses and held them in front of their bodies and in direct sight of Bradford.

"You Bastard! What have you done!" He shouted hissed and turned his head away from the sight of the crosses that Quentin and Eric held.

Eric had been studying the future guinea pig for his experiment and was unaware that Bradford was now trying to make eye contact with him from under his raised sheltering arm. Eric felt the eyes bore into him and he felt his hand starting to lower. Julia seeing him going under the influence of the vampires influence shouted. "Victoria!" Eric blinked looked away from Peter.

Peter shot his glance to Julia and once again, Julia was feeling the pull of Peter's vampire hypnotic demand to look at him in the eyes. Eric realizing what was happening, shouted in return, "Victoria!" The trigger word was working and there was nothing that Peter could do to fight what was happening. He continued to back away from the crosses until his back was up against the bookcase watchin Eric, Quentin advanced towards him.

Barnabas held his position because it was the one safe place for him to stand outside of the power draining crosses that were peppered around the room. He watched he was not about to put his guard down until he knew that Peter Bradford had been immobilized.

Lang reached into his pocket and pulled out his sedative, he had to guess at how much would weaken the man enough to get him into the silver chains and prayed it was enough. He suspected that vampires had incredible strength, and were fast so he would have to be as quick as he could to jab the need into his arm and depress the plunger sending the crippling concoction into his arm. Taking the syringe he used his teeth to pull the covering from the need's end and jabbed the needle into Peter's arm, then went to depress the plunger, it sunk into his arm and the fluid made its way into his body, Peter broke loose with an incredible last ditch effort to escape.

Jerking his arm back, he shoved Lang into Quentin and sent the cross that Quentin had held as his shield flying into the air to land in front of Barnabas, Julia, shouted, "ERIC!" and rushed forward with her cross extended, shifting to stand in front of Barnabas, she took her foot and kicked the cross out of his way, then looked up at a wild and nearly deranged Clark.

"We have to prevent him from turning to mist Julia, Eric, Quentin hurry with your crosses!" Barnabas was trapped as much as Clark to shift in either direction to help he would be in the direct line of sight of the crosses. Julia hurried towards the entranceway of the drawing room and held her vigil there, when Clark lunged for her and threw her against Barnabas.

Try as he might, he had been unable to revert to mist form, it had to be the crosses all over the room, they were there in full display and he had been so angry and focused on possibly ending Barnabas' miserable life this night that he had not noticed when he entered.

Then there was the drug that was moving through his body at an alarming speed and he felt he just needed to get out of this house and out of the power of the crosses. He charged towards the door and saw Willie eyes wide and his lip trembling and Jeff smiled. "Move aside Loomis and I will let you live." There is a point in your life that with enough motivation and fear, you can do just about anything given the circumstance. At this moment in his life, Willie was scared shitless with his back pressed up against the doors to the old house. With the threat of death or being torn apart or facing Barnabas' anger if he screwed this up, he had to choose the lesser of two evils. Closing his eyes, he withdrew the bottle of holy water uncorked it and flung it in Clark's face.

The first toss, Willie watched the water arched then hit him in the face with no reaction what so ever to being touched by water. "Shit." Willie whispered watching the water drip down his face and the shocked look and then the slow easy smile that spread over his face he lifted his hand and wiped the water from his face.

Willie knowing that the holy water was in the lower section of the bottle, he just prayed his own little prayer of "_God help me make this work_. _Don't let it be diluted_!" Gulping quickly he forced his hand to draw back and flung the second part of the water at the angry but semi-amused vampire. Again he watched it arc and as the water hit Peter's skin it sizzled and hissed with the touch of holy water against inherent evil. A howl of anguish and anger filled the air as some of the water had hit him in his eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Old House

Peter ducked driving his knuckles to his eyes to wipe the holy water out of them. Julia scurried around the room, to hiding the crosses, Quentin, and Eric rushed into the hallway and laid their crosses in a circle around Bradford. Bradford was trapped and he felt his body burning with the power of the crosses and his eyes were burning from the holy water. With his weakened condition becoming more of a hazard for him, Peter slumped to the floor to his knees and buried his face in his hands. "The silver chains quickly!" Barnabas shouted from the doorway. Barnabas had free reign of movement, with the removal of the crosses, their powers no longer restricted him.

Eric rushed to get the silver chains and with Quentin's help quickly bound Peter with the chains. Now he was powerless to move or fight back, they had caught him. Guiding him up to stand Quentin and Eric lead the hapless vampire down the cellar stairs and to the prison they had prepared for him. Complete with coffin. Leading him to the coffin, they chained his hands and feet, and then lifted him putting him in the coffin. Closing the coffin lid on Peter, Eric looked at Quentin. "Now I suppose we find out what phase two will be." Quentin slapped the older gentleman on his back and smiled.

"I think for one night we are well on our way. We just need to make sure that all the crosses are in place. " Eric nodded, he worked with Quentin to secure the small room and their specimen.

"I understand Julia is leaving tonight to do a proof of life check on Vicki?" Quentin along with Lang started up the wide stone steps to the first level Quentin paused waiting for Eric to pass through the door. He glanced over to observe Julia securing the crosses from sight. Barnabas sat passively in the chair by the fireplace.

"Julia, you need to pack, and we wait for Knightwing to call." Barnabas stood. "If you gentlemen will join me in the library we can let Julia get to her packing." Julia nodded and walked towards the front door. Willie still stood frozen to the spot.

"Is he gone? Is he locked up?" Willie's voice trembled he looked to the spot the skin had fallen from Jeff's face when the holy water had hit and burned him.

Julia put a comforting hand on Willie's shoulder, "Yes Willie, he is secure in his coffin in the cellar. Now I must go pack and I am sure you are going to have to drive me to the airport." Willie nodded, turned pulling the cross from the doors. He stepped out of the way allowing Julia passage out of the foyer. Turning he saw Barnabas waiting for him in the entrance of the drawing room.

"Willie, I will see you a moment please." Willie nodded he closed the door allowing Julia to leave. Walking towards Barnabas he was surprised by the sudden backhand thump he received from Barnabas.

He did not even see it coming and Willie tumbled backwards rubbing his chin feeling the sting of the hit. "Wha . . Wha What was that for?"

Barnabas turned with a frown, "Incompetence. YOU did not do what you were told to do and that was get holy water." Barnabas stepped towards the hallway. "The next time you have to fight a vampire that does not have control over you, perhaps you will remember to get a full bottle of holy water. Now get out of my sight until I call you again."

Willie had thought he had escaped notice for the holy water debacle; he was amazed at how he knew he had not gotten a full bottle of holy water. "I_t was simple Willie, your thoughts betray you and in your fearful state I knew that you had knowledge that bottle was not full of holy water. Now do as I say and do not let me see you again until I need you_." There he was in his mind and telling him how he had failed even though the vampire had been captured. _"Careful Willie, I am getting irritated with these thoughts._" He was getting tired of him being in his mind and that Willie had no secrets. Walking up the stairs he sulked and nursed his bruised jaw all the way to his room, filling his mind with dark and angry thoughts all the way. "_WILLIE_!" The shout in his mind nearly caused him to trip he stumbled to his bed and lay down.

"All right. Sheesh!" He mumbled he closed his eyes and waited for the next bellow to come for his services.

Barnabas entered the library with irritation still edging his manner and his face. "Now, we wait. Once I know they are on their way to the States, Quentin your part in this little drama will come into play. You know what you will need to do correct?"

Quentin watched his cousin and sighed, "I know what is expected, whether or not I am successful is another matter entirely." Barnabas smiled he thought about that part of the plan.

"I will get the information you need. All you need to do is go and get the item. Once we have everything we can then execute the final part of our plans."

Lang sat thinking about what had been done so far. "I have one concern, we begin our process of humanizing Clark tonight, once we have him to a phase that he can tolerate sunlight and is no longer a threat to any of us as a vampire, what then?"

Barnabas stood walked to the liquor cabinet, poured two glasses of claret, handed one to Lang and one to Quentin. "To begin with, that is not going to be our concern, once we turn him over to Mircea, it will be Mircea's problem." Barnabas turned with a superior look to each man.

"What about our tests and our subjects reaction? We just are not going to give him over to Mircea to kill are we?" He looked up from the drink he held. His eyes narrowed he studied Barnabas.

Barnabas had centuries to learn to school features he turned with no show of emotion. "Dr. Lang, might I remind you that creature in the coffin in my cellar would no more think of ripping your head from your torso, and drinking your blood from the fountain he had just made. Or would he hesitate to destroy every member of my family. Any feelings I may have had for him died in that coffin in which I was confined in for nearly two centuries."

Quentin took his glass and smiled, "I would say what will be, will in fact be. If you humanize him, he will no longer be a real threat to this family and will face whatever judgment that God or Mircea deigns to deal out." Quentin sipped the claret and sighed. "I always said our family had the best liquor."

Lang had to think about this. "So, we wait, make the exchange of the artifact and Clark then what?" He was not really sure what was expected of Julia or him after they got Miss Winters back. He wanted it laid out in a nice neat little plan. He knew he had been given a partial bit of information as to his and Julia's roll but other than that he was in the dark and he was not sure he was happy with that part of this plan.

Barnabas sighed with infinite patience. "My dear Dr. Lang, let me explain this to you. If you have the full plan and you are unfortunately taken as a casualty of this war, then you could trip us up. So, by giving you and Julia only partial information secures your lives and safety." He had waved his hands expressively while he explained the reason for the secrecy to the whole plan.

Eric sighed sipped his drink, set his glass down. "Well if you both will excuse me I have the first injection to make to our 'test subject'." Eric nodded to them and left them. Quentin started to speak and Barnabas held up his hand for him to wait before speaking.

He waited and then heard Lang walk away from the door. Hearing the close of the door to the cellar he nodded to Quentin. "Now that we have total privacy, you understand that I don't want you in any of these negotiations between Mircea and myself. The further you distance yourself from these negotiations the quicker we can wind this up."

Quentin smiled, "Then all we need is for Trask to pull his strings to get the information that I need and then we can finish this up." Barnabas for the first time that night afforded him self a small smile. "Yes, finish it up and hopefully bring Miss Winters home unscathed and back to where she belongs."

Quentin sat forward, "You got it bad for her don't you?" He studied the man over his glass while he asked his question and he saw the tiny tick in his jaw that he got when he was pressed to answer a question he was not comfortable answering.

"I care very deeply for her and I am very fond of her and she has everything I seek in a woman. She has a quality that seems to transcend time." Barnabas answered the question truthfully and with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But she is not Josette?" Quentin observed drinking the last of his drink and glanced at his newest friend and relative.

"No she is not Josette, she never will be Josette. She is Victoria and has her own qualities that make her appealing. She is a rare find in this day and age where all the women seem to be poured from that independent, harsh mold of the modern woman." Barnabas had gone thoughtful. "Do you think I expect too much?"

Quentin shrugged, "I think no matter what you will find that even Victoria had her own views in this modern society because that is what it will take to live in this day and age. You know Josette is truly gone; she will never come back to you. No matter how many girls that may look like her, sound like her or have qualities like her, she is gone."

Barnabas nodded, "I have my dreams Quentin, even you must have had someone that you wanted to hold onto from your various times." He glanced at his cousin.

"I tried not to get close to any of them for the simple reason I knew I would stay young and they would grow old and die. The one woman that I truly loved did die, tragically. Oh not by jumping off some cliff to avoid becoming something she did not want to become. She was shot before my very eyes, I held her as she died in my arms."

He stood and walked to the window and picked up one of the chess pieces. Studying the chess piece he picked up he smiled at the irony or perhaps it was an subconscious act, but he held the queen. "She was young, bright, a modern woman from our time, she was hell bent on vengeance she thought I had caused her sister to kill herself. She sparkled when she was complimented, and she blushed when she was given a compliment or an indecent proposal was offered." He clutched the piece in his closed fist and smiled. "She had a way about her that reminded me of why I was a man and why I loved women."

Barnabas had listened to him as he spoke of his past and the loss of that love. "Did you not search for her again after you lost her?"

Quentin opened his hand and looked at the queen then set it back down on the board. "I tried at first. I would stop if I heard a voice that was like hers and if I saw someone that looked like her from behind I would rush up to turn the startled young woman around and nearly got hit three or four times by beaus that did not appreciate me manhandling their women."

"So you can understand why I did what I did to Maggie. I have my regrets and I realized that if I wanted Josette she had to be someone from this time. I thought maybe Vicki could have been her. However as I got to know Vicki more and got closer to her, I found qualities in Vicki that were very appealing and admirable."

"Then we both agree we cannot go back and we have to look forward and find our happiness in this day and this age. To be with someone that we can appreciate for whom they are and not what we expect?" Quentin turned and rested his body to the table in front of the window.

"I will agree that I made a mistake with Maggie by forcing her to be something I wanted. I will agree that Josette is gone. However, I also agreed that I would not force Vicki to come to me, she would come to me of her own free will. I fear after her treatment by Mircea she may not have much will left." Barnabas frowned. "And if I find he had misused her in any form, he will meet his death before the day is done." His voice had grown soft and was filled with a darkness that even touched Quentin deeply.

Quentin shivered, "Remind me never to make you angry."

The door opened and Julia poked her head in. "I am ready, are you going to have Willie take me to the airport?"

When Julia opened the door the phone on the desk began to ring. Quentin looked at Barnabas and Barnabas looked back at Quentin. "There he is." Quentin spoke in hushed tones.

Julia entered the room and stood with her arms crossed, she waited for Barnabas to pick up the phone. "This is Collins."

"Ahh Mr. Collins Alexandru Mircea here, do you have what I requested?" Barnabas' tensed he did not like the purring sound of that voice and had he been there in the room with him, his throat would have been ripped from his body.

"I do, may I speak to Miss Winters?" The sound of the phone shifting hands and a soft and weak sounding Vicki answered.

"Hello?"

"Victoria, it is Barnabas. Are you well my dear?" There was a hesitation that Barnabas did not like but he was patient. Then her voice came back sounding soft and incoherent.

"Barnabas? Where are you? When will I see you?" She was confused and weak and he could sense she had been heavily drugged. His anger was being kept in check.

"Soon my dear very soon, I am sending Julia to take care of you until we meet again."

"I can't see you. You don't want to see me. Willie said you were gone and I knew you were there hiding from me. I thought, I thought we were beginning to mean something to each other." Her voice cracked and he could hear her confusion turning to sadness and depression.

The phone was taken from her hand and Alexandru's voice was back on the line. "It appears Miss Winters is feeling a bit under the weather, she does not tolerate the sedatives very well."

Barnabas' voice was soft and threatening. "If you harm her Mircea nothing will protect you from what I will bring down on you and your house. Now I have Doctor Hoffman she is coming there to see to Vicki and her needs, you will need to discuss with her what she needs to bring in order to bring Vicki back to full health is that understood?"

"Ahh but Mr. Collins, you are making demands when I hold the cards to this whole game is that wise to anger me let alone threaten me?" Mircea was practically gloating.

"I believe I am the one holding the cards Alexandru, I have Bradford and your artifact, now in order for you to get either or both of those you will do as I ask or you can keep Miss Winters and I will wash my hands of this whole affair and I will destroy that artifact and release Bradford so he can come and hunt you down himself." His words were precise and his tone was pitched to sound as if he truly meant each and every word he had just uttered.

The pause on the other end of the phone allowed him to know he had hit a nerve with Alexandru and this time when he spoke he was not as cocky or gleeful. "I understand and you understand this, if I do not get what I want, I will kill Miss Winters. I will destroy her body and you will never see or hear from her again."

Barnabas leaned forward his knuckles were so tight on the phone that it cracked the handle. His voice dropped very low and he spoke without the slightest sound of anger or threat he stated. "I will get to you and your picture first before you have a chance to harm one hair on her head, when I do, I shall take my time letting you see me destroy your picture for every cut, every burn, every tear that happens to that picture you will feel in your body and as your body ages and you feel your life slipping from your fingers I will stand over your husk and wait then sweep your ashes to the wind."

Quentin stared at the man in front of him in awe, and he could hear the dead silence on the other end. "Know this Alexandru, I am familiar with your family and its history, your great plus grand father will seem like a day in the park when I am done with you."

Again, silence on the other end the slow held breath being released from his body and Alexandru became clipped and terse. "My plane is at the private airport near Portland take your doctor there, once she arrives she may speak to my personal physician and together they can decide how to handle what had happened to Miss Winters."

Before Barnabas could react Alexandru hung up and Barnabas grabbed the phone ripped it from the wall and sent it shattering against the door, "WILLIE!" His voice echoed and reacted throughout the upper part of the house to the now trembling body of Willie in his bedroom.

"At least he is screaming it means I am not getting an ass beating tonight." He muttered he rolled out of his bed and headed down stairs.

Carpathian Mountains

Julia watched the countryside as they drove towards the Carpathian Mountains what she knew of these mountains she could put in a small matchbox. She knew about them through the story by Bram Stoker and that Count Dracula was suppose to have been born here and raised. She shifted her doctor's bag on her lap, and then smoothed her hair down under her small pillbox hat. Opening her purse she was not one for primping but she felt that if she were walking into a trap that would ultimately lead to her and Vicki's death she wanted to look good before she went. She had not expected to be met by a Rolls Royce but what did she expect, the man had his own private jet plane that had flown her here. Sitting back she practiced her most professional facial expressions mentally she waited for this ride to be over. The flight had been long and tiring but she was confident she could stay awake and attend to why she was here before she collapsed from jet lag.

Earlier

Thinking back to when she first boarded the plane that was over 17 hours ago and three time zones she sighed deeply. They had successfully started Peter Bradford on the serum she had developed and Eric had reported positive results so far. She was specific on the dosage and the times the injections were to be given and that Eric should take very meticulous notes. A part of her was disappointed that she would not be there to see what would happen with her phase of this project but Vicki was far more important to this situation than her need to be there to see how her theories played out with a real vampire.

Willie had met her in the drawing room sporting a busted lip and bruised jaw. "What now?" Julia took her gloved fingers and lifted his chin and turned it to see if he needed stiches. He did not. "How did this happen?"

Willie lifted the bags with a muttered "I fell."

"Bullshit, you did not fall he hit you, why?" She followed his slump shouldered figure outside in the rain and to her car, handing him over her keys she waited while he opened her door, let her in and then put the bags in the trunk.

Walking to the driver's side he started the car and turned to watch while he backed up and caught Julia's stare. "I said I fell we will just leave it at that."

"No Willie we will not leave it at that. He hit you what was his reason?"

"I fu . . I messed up." He muttered he turned the car and drove towards the highway. He was going to use the grandmother of all words but stopped she was a lady after all.

"How did you mess up Willie?"

She was not going to leave it alone; she was going to keep on until he had to confess what he had done. "Look, I was suppose to get some holy water, so I snuck into the church and was fillin the bottle when a nun came in, so I ducked out and then discovered that I only got it half full so I filled it with tap water and when I threw it at Bradford it was just water, the second throw is what did the damage and that was the diluted holy water."

Julia sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, "And this was why he hit you?"

"Deception, he hates deception and I don't even know what that means."

"It means you lied Willie, you should have just told him you did not get the bottle filled, he would have figured something out. Then you would not have been hit."

"Yeah well, that is what he likes for you all to think, but he gets nasty when he don get his way and right now his way is being blocked by someone else but I am the one getting kicked around for it."

Julia sighed, she knew he had a temper but never realized that Willie was taking the brunt of his temper. "Well in the future if you run into a problem you can come to me Willie, I will figure out something for you."

Willie perked up thinking he now had a ally that would help him if he needed it. "Thanks Doc, I really appreciate it, see he gets mad and I try but I am never good enough, he is always comparing me to some man that lived when he did, he calls him Ben and points out that Ben would have done it right the first time."

Julia got the distinct impression that for all of Willie's resentment of his employer, he really was trying to please him and it went beyond the fact he had been enthralled by the vampire's bite. "Well let me handle Barnabas from this point on and you try to do what you can and avoid making him mad until I can get back, deal?" She looked at him and held out her hand.

They had shook hands and the rest of the drive to the private airfield went with very little conversation as the night became relentless with its sporadic down pours. They made it to the hanger Julia was concerned at first they would be delayed in taking off, but soon had her fears banished when the word came back to buckle seatbelts.

Present time

Her body physically ached she thought about what she and Barnabas had discussed, she was to try and discover where the portrait was and let him know, she was not suppose to try and take the painting or remove it from its secure spot, just locate it. She wondered if the man was stupid enough to keep it close to him wherever he was living or if he had secured it in a particular spot. She had to go about doing this very carefully so as to not alert the residents of her other objective for coming to Bucharest and now it seemed they had moved Vicki to another location in the Carpathian Mountains.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Alexandru's Castle

Suppressing a yawn she blinked a few times and had to admit the jet lag was horrible, she would like to sleep for twelve hours but knew she had to remain alert. The driver had lowered the window that separated them and spoke in broken English, "Castle Vanier of the Dracul." He pointed to the castle that set high up in the mountains and from where she sat it almost looked like it was a part of the mountain.

"Yes, its very lovely."

"We go there." He nodded and the car started along a narrow switch back road that threatened to make Julia car sick with the relentless rocking and sharp turns. The car entered through an arch and pulled up in front of two large double doors, the paved cobble stoned driveway crunching under the weight of the vehicle as it pulled to a stop.

The doors opened and a woman and man both dressed formally in black and white uniform and dress suit, stepped down to the car and opened the door. The major domo collected Julia's baggage and the Maid escorted Julia up the steps and through the doors. "Please make welcome to our humble Castle Vanier, and bring the joy you have and leave a little before you leave us." She curtsied to Julia. "I will take you to your room, you may freshen up and then I will take you to the Master of this home."

Julia wanted to shout, "Take me to Vicki Damnit!" But held her temper, she was tired and knew she would see Vicki in due course. Walking into the main foyer she was impressed by the vastness of the room that held a grand staircase that went up one flight to a landing and then two staircases that went left then right. The young maid led Julia up to the landing then took her up the right staircase to a hallway that went on for what seemed forever with several doors that opened into the hallway. She counted the doors and was at number five when the maid stopped and opened the door to the left and entered a huge room with a large four-poster bed.

Julia followed her in and looked around, a cheerful fire burned brightly in fireplace. It held two fireside chairs and footstools, a large window looked out over the mountains, the heavy drapes were closed by the maid and she turned with a smile. "I shall have your bags brought up, your bathing chambers are here, and this room will be your dressing room. I shall put up your clothing and we dress for dinner and we do dine late."

Julia had sauntered around the room, looked at the door that led off to the right of her bed into the bathing room, very nicely appointed, then she looked at the smaller room that was a walk in closet and dressing room complete with dressing table.

"Thank you very much, I am Julia and you are?"

"Marie, I will be assigned as your maid while you are here."

"When will I see Miss Winters?"

The maid frown and turned away, she shifted to turn down the bed and grew distant and quiet, "Marie?"

She turned and looked nervously around the room then back to Julia "Madam you are a doctor right?" Her voice had dropped and gone very soft.

Julia nodded, "Yes, I am why?"

"Because the young woman is not well, she is very.. . " She stopped speaking when a shadow moved past the door and the major domo walked in to the room with Julia's bags.

"Marie, you will need to check on our other guest she was requesting you." Maria bobbed a curtsy to him and turned hurrying out of the room. Julia then knew she was going to have to watch the major domo but trust the girl; she seemed to be concerned for Vicki.

"You may put them on my bed if you please." She spoke coolly to the major domo while he stiffly stepped to the bed to sit the two pieces of baggage on the foot of her bed. "Madam you are expected below in one hour." Julia nodded turned to unpacked heard him close the door and then a click; he had locked her in.

"_Well Julia what did you expect, they won't trust you. So, you play dumb to gain their trust and maybe they will stop locking you in." _She thought while she began to lie out her things she had packed and busied herself until she heard the click at the door and Marie had returned to escort her down stairs to her host.

Julia squared her shoulders smiled encouragingly for the young girl's benefit and followed slowly taking in her surroundings and then she saw it, a room that appeared to have an iron door with a timed lock on it. "_A vault, so maybe he had it here after all."_ Averting her gaze she continued along trying not to appear like the proverbial farm girl seeing Paris for the first time. Blinking and catching herself, she put on her professional face and followed behind the girl. The maid led Julia down the stairs and across the large foyer to one of the largest drawing rooms she had ever seen. It had a huge fireplace that took up the center of one wall, it was tall and could easily have held a whole cow on a spit. The room had a feel that reminded Julia of the grand throne rooms of some of the European Castles she had visited when she toured Europe after Post Graduate School.

Two men stood by the fireplace dressed in black tie and tails holding drinks and bowed formally to Julia when she stepped forward. "Ah, you must be the enchanting Doctor Hoffman." The man that spoke was a good six foot two slender build with pale complexion and angular features, "I am Doctor Klaus Von Marxxs." He clicked his heels and bowed taking her hand and kissed it. His blond features did remind her of one of Hitler's chosen with the chiseled good looks and blue eyes, he would have made what Hitler hoped to populate the world with; a pure bred. Julia did not like him. However, for some reason she suspected it was because of her last name Hoffman, that he felt an affinity towards her.

"Charmed I am sure." She withdrew her hand and turned at the approach of the other man who was smaller and darker in looks, his eyes seemed to be set too close together and his smile superficial which did not enhance his features which were pinched.

"Baron Alexandru Mircea at your service Doctor Hoffman." He had not clicked his heels together or bowed he merely took her hand and slopped a wet kiss on her knuckles. It was all Julia could do to keep from wiping her hand on her skirt.

"Charmed." She said softly and then turned and peered around, "I do not see Vicki?"

When Julia had spoke there was a noise from the other end of the room and all turned to peer over at a pale and ethereal figure of a woman that seemed to glide across the room, her long dark hair laid in plates and her eyes looked sunken due to the dark circles under her eyes.

Julia was appalled at the condition she saw Vicki in and hurried to take her arm as she held them out to grab Julia and hold tightly to her. "You came, you are going to take me home?"

Julia cradled her close to her body and led her to a chair and set her down, she turned with blazing angry eyes on both men and she spat out in all the venomous forms she could think of, "This is absolutely deplorable! What in the hell have you done to her! Why is she so emaciated?"

Alexandru sighed deeply and rolled his eyes, "Madam calm yourself, she is going through withdrawals, we had to use sedatives to keep her under control and well unfortunately she was not as resilient as most and she succumb to the addition. She at lest is alive."

Klaus sighed deeply and muttered under his breath, "I told you to stop ordering her to have the drugs a week ago, but you had to have it all."

Julia turned on them both, "You as a doctor should have known better and you, you have displayed to me that you are an very pathetic excuse for a human being with any sort of compassion. I just have this to say, I have traveled this world and met a lot of despicable people in my travels but you are by far the worse."

Alexandru sighed again, "You deal with this, I do not do drama well." He turned and left Klaus with Vicki and Julia.

"Well there he goes. I can promise you my dear Doctor Hoffman; she is actually doing better and is able to hold down food, which is why she is so emaciated. The drugs were very hard on her system, and I am slowly moving the drugs out with a charcoal flush with an IV. You are more than welcome to join me in her room to see, I have been attending to her as best as I can with the equipment I have."

Julia did not want to be in either of these men's shoes once she reported to Barnabas the deplorable condition she had found Vicki in and that it would take a long time to bring back the young beautiful vibrant woman she once was. "You realize this is not acceptable, that Mr. Collins will not be very pleased with my report."

"Which is why you are going to lie and tell him she is fine and thriving."

"And why in the hell would I do that?"

"To keep her and yourself alive my dear Doctor Hoffman, Alexandru will not tolerate you being left alive if you interfere with his plans."

"And you think Barnabas won't know I am avoiding his very specific and direct questions?"

"That is up to you, this I can assure you, when he got off the phone with Collins the other night I am as certain he put a hit out on him and it would not surprise me if he is dead within the next week after this whole sordid mess is over."

Julia smiled, "I see you think he can send someone to kill Barnabas? I would rethink that plan if I were you. Barnabas Collins is not someone he should press."

"Do I detect a hint of pride for Mr. Collins in your voice Doctor?" Klaus studied her and would have given anything to put her under sodium pentothal. But if he did, Collins could find out and then they would be back to square one.

"Julia, please are you here to take me home?" Vicki's pitiful voice broke into the conversation and Julia saw a hint of compassion for the girl from the one called Klaus.

"Yes Vicki we will be going home as soon as I can get you stronger, that is why I am here."

Vicki slumped back in the chair closed her eyes and allowed the tears to flow freely down her cheeks.

"It really was a shame, she was so beautiful before the addiction." Klaus sighed as he looked down at the shadow of the woman that had been Vicki Winters.

"And whose fault is that? She is still beautiful and we had best get her back as she was before Barnabas sees her."

"You speak of this Collins as if he were a god, what makes him so special."

"Because he is everything you are not. He is a gentleman first and foremost, and he is kind and gentle."

"He has the most loving sad eyes." Vicki said with her eyes half closed as if she were sitting and visualizing him in front of her. "The most gentle touch and the kindest sounding voice." Klaus frowned; he had not heard her speak like this before and he knew she had feelings for him. He had heard her say something to that effect the other night but had been distracted when Alexandru was going into a slight fit of temper over how Collins was threatening him.

"That is right Vicki he does have all those qualities and he wants you back home again. Can you stand dear, I need to examine you."

Julia turned to face Klaus, "Do you have a clinic exam room anything that resembles something of that nature?"

Klaus smiled, "We are not total barbarians my dear, this way." He bent to pick up Vicki and cradle her close to his chest. She was dressed in a long gown and peignoir that draped down his long slender figure he led Julia and carried Vicki across the room. Walking down a long hallway he led them to a sterile smelling room that had recently been cleaned with bleach and alcohol. In the center of the room stood an exam table and Klaus took her to the table, and laid her on its white draped surface. "Lay back dear it is time for your IV fluids." Klaus walked around the room with familiarity and opened a cabinet pulling out a IV bottle filled with clear fluids and another bottle a smaller one that must have been the charcoal solution.

Julia pushed the sleeves up on Vicki's gown and gasped, her arms were bruised from the injections and the abuse from needles. "Dear god. Does she even have veins that we can use?"

Julia searched her arms and found a small vein in the top of her hand. Selecting a butterfly needle she came back and began to slap Vicki's hand to make the vein rise. Frowning she spoke softly, "Vicki you are going to feel a little stick dear." Vicki turned her gaze to Julia and there was no life in her eyes, she was drifting off to another time a place Julia suspected she had found and used to hide from her captors.

Vicki turned her head and her eyes fixed on Julia, and with the most angelic look she smiled and her voice had taken on a tinge of a French accent. "Bon jour dear Doctor Hoffman, I am ''ere with our dear Victoria, we are fine now."

Julia gasped, her eyes widen and she whispered softly, "Josette?" Vicki shook her head yes.

"Ve vill be fine now I am 'ere to 'elp 'er and you." The accent was heavy but soft and the eyes that peered at Julia were no longer Vicki's they were a deep brown. Vicki rolled her head to look at Klaus' back.

"'E does not know I am 'ere for you and 'er. It vill be our secret!"

Klaus turned and Vicki closed her eyes and sighed deeply, Julia put the needle into her hand, and taped it in place. "No more needle marks understand? We will use this vein to give her fluids and the treatment."

Klaus waved his hand. "She is your patient now doctor, I am merely here to assist if you need my help."

"Fine then leave us now so I can do my exam, if I need anything I will let you know." She watched him leave the room and she began her exam.

She definitely had signs of going through withdrawals like so many of the junkies at her clinic had done she knew that the worse was to come now that they would finish the charcoal solution to purify her blood, the next thing would be to keep her on IV therapy to get her fluids up and to help her stomach tolerate more than broth.

Picking up the clipboard she began to make notes and she was not sure how she was going to handle the phone call to Barnabas. He would know immediately she was lying. So she would have to use code to let him know what was going on. Tapping the pin against the clipboard she sighed and finished her notes and then sat down next to Vicki holding her free hand. "We are going to get you home dear, you just hang in there."

The door opened and Klaus entered. "We are needed in Alexandru's office, he has Collins on the phone and remember what I told you doctor, if you let Collins know she is foully treated your life and her life will be forfeit.

Julia nodded took a deep breath and spoke softly, "I understand." Standing she tugged on the bottom of her suit jacket and followed Klaus out of the room and down another long connecting hallway.

Stopping outside a set of double doors, she waited for Klaus to open the door. She looked up and saw the frown etched between Alexandru's eyes. "He is waiting doctor, when you are done, I will speak with him again." Alexandru nodded to the phone off the hook.

Julia stepped forward took a deep breath let it out slowly then lifted the phone to her ear. "Barnabas?"

"Have you seen her?" His voice was clipped and to the point and she could hear the held emotions.

"Yes."

"And?"

"Well she is as well as you would expect someone to be. Kind of reminds me of how Jeff looked the other night."

Long pause and she heard him collect him self as he said. "Before or after?"

"Oh I would say after, doing rather well if you understand how this kind of thing works."

"I see that precise?"

"Yes, very precise for someone that had gone through what she has."

Alexandru stepped to Julia and put his hand over the receiver, "No more prattle woman just tell him she is fine and let me speak with him."

Julia glared at him, "If I get cut off he will know there is a problem. If you want him to do as he says he would I would let me finish this conversation and then you can speak with him."

Alexandru stepped back removing his hand and glance at Klaus who was chewing his thumbnail nervously.

"Allow me to explain Barnabas, the situation here would be as we expected, I am not a guest but a prisoner locked in my room, I expected no less, Vicki is being cared for by a doctor and now that I am here she is under my care. I am happy to report that all will be fine because she is drawing on the past and remembering all her old friends from the past to get her through this trying time."

"Josette?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact her very dear friend Josette is here in her mind."

"I see, so we must expect duplicity on behalf of your host?"

"Yes.

"Very well then allow me to speak with him."

"I would be gentle when you speak next she is in a delicate state of mind Barnabas."

Old House

He read between the lines and was prepared to soften his tones to Alexandru but not too much. He knew what he needed to know and as far as he was concerned, Alexandru was going to die. He must have thought he could send someone to kill him, and now he relaxed knowing that Josette was there with both ladies he felt he had an ally in the enemy's camp.

Barnabas carefully placed the phone in its cradle. Although he wanted to crush it to pieces, he simply could not keep having the telephone company coming out to replace the phones he had broken. He was still recalling how the repairman had looked at the remnants of the last phone and then at the wall and finally at him.

Earlier

"So you say lightening struck the house and this was the only piece of equipment that was fried?"

"Yes, just repair it please."

Why did he have to be the last service call of his day, he had just caught him rising from his coffin and Willie as usual was nowhere to be found. He had walked up to the front door and called, "Who is it?"

"Telephone Company here for a service calls?"

His voice had held a tremor to it that was probably due to the fact he had heard rumors the old house was haunted. "This way please." He lead the repairman through the house turning on lights while he guided him through the doors to his library and looked with dissatisfaction at the final remains of the modern convention of telephones.

"Whoa, wow what happened?"

"Lighting strike."

"Really? Wow, any other electrical problems?"

"No, excuse me I will leave you to fix this." Barnabas did not invite openness or was he in the mood for idle chatter with a service repairman.

When he left the library he heard another knock on the door and it was irritating him that Willie was nowhere around and he would not call out for Willie with strangers in the house. With an exaggerated sigh he walked towards the front door and pulled it open. Trask and Quentin stood at the door.

"Has she arrived in Bucharest?" Quentin asked he allowed Trask to enter in front of him.

"Yes, I had confirmation earlier, but I will not know any more until I hear from Julia.'

"I see from the truck outside you have a repair man in for the telephone?" Trask asked confused as to why he would be having problems after having the service recently installed.

"Yes, he is in the library so I would suggest discretion gentlemen."

Trask was at a loss, "What happened to the telephone service."

Quentin shot him a dangerously dark look and whispered, "Don't ask you don't want to know."

"Then I retract by question, Quentin said you wanted to speak with me. I was curious as to about what per se'?"

"Your associate in Bucharest, does he have safety deposit boxes or vaults that he might wish to store some of his more valuable property?" Barnabas escorted them into the drawing room and indicated they should sit while he poured a drink for men. "You are his attorney of record correct?"

Barnabas had turned handed them their drinks then stood and put his gaze directly on Trask. "Yes, as a matter of record for his business dealings and his international interests I am his attorney of record, but what I know I cannot divulge or I would violate client lawyer confidentiality and that I can not do for fear of being disbarred."

"My dear Mr. Trask I do not have time to argue semantics with you over whether or not hippocras is violated or not, I need this information to secure the release of Miss Winters in good health and one piece."

"I am sorry Mr. Collins I cannot in good conscious give you that information no matter how much you wish to know it, I simply am bound by my means and practices of being a lawyer to protect the interests of my client."

"Fine then withdraw from his employ and become my lawyer, I will pay you twice as much as he pays."

Trask stood and blustered, "That is highly unethical."

"Your client is unethical and he would not hesitate to kill you if he thought you were a danger to him whether or not you are his lawyer, so make your decision you have five minutes."

The repairman walked out into the drawing room and smiled, his single receiver phone dangled from his utility belt and Barnabas was very interested in such contraptions and conventions of this age. "Mr. Collins the phone is up and you have good dial tone. If you need anything else just give us a call. Have a great day." Barnabas accepted the clipboard and saw where he was to sign and signed off, waiting for his copy, he accepted it and ideally folded it. Then he escorted the man to the door and out.

Barnabas knew he had been less than cordial but he had many pressing matters on his mind. There was also the fact that Willie was still missing and he had no idea where he was, it was as if his rage had blocked him completely and then he felt a glimmer of his consciousness and frowned. Willie had been unconscious not mad.

"Quentin will you and Mr. Trask please met me in the library, I need to check on the generator it was not functioning well last night and if I need to get another repairman out, I best see to it before we start to on this newest venture."

Quentin had been around Barnabas long enough to know when he was feeding him a load of crappity crap and this was one of those occasions. But not wishing to anger him having seen how his anger could affect certain objects and persons he stood and smiled, "Of course Barnabas. This way Greg."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Old House earlier

"Trask, I hope you make that decision before I return it would be to your benefit and the benefit for not only Miss Winters now but to Doctor Hoffman." Barnabas gave a nod of his head and ambled towards the cellar door. Walking with haste towards where he felt Willie's presence he could hear a soft moan. He arrived at the cell that held Clark. Frowning deeply Barnabas observed the door was opened and Willie lying half in and out of that door. "Willie!" Barnabas stooped down to check Willie, but not before checking the coffin that held Clark, raising the lid he was aghast to see that it held Dr. Lang and Clark, where was Clark?

Willie stood weakly rubbing the back of his head, "Where did he go?" Barnabas frowned, checking Lang for life and found he too was just unconscious.

"Obviously not far in the daylight, he has to be still hidden here in this house. Get up and go get Quentin send him down here and have Trask check upstairs. Also arm Quentin with a cross and tell Trask he might need to have a cross for religious purposes but nothing more. Willie move and do it quickly."

Then he heard it a soft moan of extreme pain. The pitiful sound was coming from the darkest interior of the cellar near the wine cellar. Barnabas listened again and heard the moan it was an old croaking sound but a moan of pain of ages past. Walking towards the sound he paused and then shifted his hand to the wall and the light switch when the lights came on he was astonished and appalled at what he was looking at. The pathetic being that laid on the floor huddled in a mass of decaying bone and age was none other than Peter Bradford, he had held up his arm to block the light and he screamed in his aged voice from the pain of the light hitting his eyes.

"What a pathetic being you have come to be Peter Bradford." Barnabas observed dryly. The old man on the floor was moaning.

"Help me Barnabas don't let me end this way, help me. Kill me, end my life now!" Bradford pleaded in his dry old voice and huddled to hide his face and his eyes from the light.

"Help you? Would you be so forth coming to help me were the situations reversed? I believe not. So why should I help you now Clark, Bradford or whatever name you choose to go by now."

"Help me and I will help you, I promise, I will do anything you wish of me, I will help rescue Miss Winters. Just help me." The man was desperate he was feeling the years creep into his very soul if he had one left and it was the cold fingers of death that were trekking their way towards his very existence while he huddled and pleaded with the last man in this world he would ever have thought to plead.

"Get up and go back to your coffin, then we will discuss how or if I will help you." Barnabas could hear Willie and Quentin coming down the stairs towards their voices. He spun around and frowned, he had forgotten he had told Willie to bring Quentin with crosses. Stepping into the darkness he waited for them to pass, then he stepped back out to Bradford, "Get up." He hooked his arm under the other vampires arm and hefted him up.

Guiding him back to where Lang had just managed to get out of the coffin he frowned, "He got me as I turned he broke through the defenses and . . . " then his sight was leveled on Bradford, now aging to a two hundred year old vampire hanging onto Barnabas' arm. "Oh my god." Was all he could think to say. He hurried to assist Barnabas to put Bradford back in the coffin then secured him with the burning of silver around his hands and across his chest.

"What is wrong? What could have gone wrong?" Lang was aghast at the reaction Bradford was having to the third treatment.

"Obviously I cannot know what is wrong or going wrong had that been me, you would be dead. You and Hoffman are the doctors I would suggest you find a fix for this." Barnabas turned and headed back to the main room of the cellar and called, "Willie, Quentin, where is Trask?"

Trask had opened the upstairs door and called down, "All clear up here." Quentin and Willie arrived as Trask announced the upstairs was clear.

"Wise choice to leave him up stairs, if I were you, I would go on up Quentin and declare the emergency of the intruder is over. Willie and I will be up shortly, Dr. Lang was injured and I need to see to his care."

Quentin frowned, nodded and patted Willie on the shoulder, "Get some ice for that bump it should go down in a day or so." Looking at Barnabas, he smiled, "Trask saw the light and wisdom of joining with us against Mircea, he will drop him as a client and give us the information we need."

Barnabas smiled it was a tense smile with little humor to travel to his eyes and nodded, "Excellent, then we shall wait for the call together in my library."

Barnabas had left Willie to Dr. Lang's care and examination for any other damage. Prior to leaving Lang he warned, "Find out what went wrong Lang or you will loose me as a test subject."

Present time

The earlier problem with Clark and seeing how the serum had aged him to nearly two hundred years, then the phone call from Julia was very upsetting and not putting him in a very good mood.

Trask had left them with a diagram to the vault at Castle Vanier where they suspected Vicki, Julia, and Alexandru were staying. Trask agree that it was the most likely place the portrait painted by Charles Delaware Tate now rested. Barnabas studied the map and the notes left by Trask, it would be better to concentrate on what was going on and not think about what was happening to Vicki while in that man's care.

"You know Quentin if I am given a chance I am going to torture that man and kill him off a little bit of the way for a year, I want to watch him suffer."

"You are sure it is as bad as Julia said?"

"Yes." His words were soft and sad. "We agreed to some key words prior to her leaving if she was unable to be truthful to me and she worked it beautifully to let me know that Victoria had been very ill treated. I fear it is far worse than I previously imagined from what I was able to decipher from what Julia said."

Quentin frowned, "Damnit Barnabas, I never intended for anything so harsh to happen to our little governess. I feel responsible."

"You should feel responsible. None of this would have happened had you not been playing your silly games with a psychotic buffoon like Mircea. But it is done and we must do what we can for damage control. She also indicated that my own life is at risk that an assassin has been dispatched to end my life."

Quentin was feeling bad enough without having Barnabas remind him of his screw up. "You are as indestructible as he or I. He does not know of your condition correct?" He waited for an assent from Barnabas and watched him grow distant and nod slowly. "Look for what it's was worth. I felt I had to try and I felt I could have used the artifact to better my standing with the university. They have a whole section dedicated to the occult and dark arts."

Barnabas had started up the stairs and then paused and quirked an eyebrow turning to look Quentin directly in the eyes. "The life of an innocent girl was worth less than your standing in a learning institute?" He tone of disapproval was all it took to let Quentin see the foolishness of his endeavor. Shaking his head he spoke contritely.

"No, not in the least, I like Miss Winters and would wish her no more harm than I would Liz or Roger or any family member."

"Well I see your reasoning is not affected by your climb for status and glory. You I know from what I have heard Quentin you are very noteworthy in several countries including this one just as an author why would you wish to raise your status quo?"

"The search for something better, to find some accolades I had not gained, I suppose it was my vanity. Why did you have an affair with your Uncle's wife? We are all human and have a nature that drives us to achieve, thrive and demand more from life than what we have. As a Collins it is inherent to strive for more."

"Not by what I witnessed of Roger, he was a squandered and a philanderer until Elizabeth saved him from himself."

"Maybe Barnabas but it is there, he is just not as motivated as most Collins Family Members are. You can see it in Carolyn; she has the wanderlust just as I had it. I could not be faithful to but one woman and she died. Carolyn is the same way she flits from one man to the other because she can not be satisfied."

"I do agree but Carolyn is young and in her young life she had been handed the mantle and the reigns to Collinwood and held her own when she was forced to be an adult and not a carefree teenager."

Quentin had not heard of this and frowned, "When was she in charge of Collinwood?"

"Shortly after Roger's first wife appeared on the scene and it was discovered she was a Phoenix. She could die in a fire and return one hundred years later."

Quentin paused and he almost paled from the information just imparted. "His first wife, would you happen to know her name?"

Barnabas paused thought a moment and then looked up, "Laura, Laura Murdock Collins."

Quentin had made it to the drawing room and upon hearing Laura's name he collapsed to the nearest chair a light sweat beading his forehead. "She died, in a horrible fire."

Barnabas nodded, "Yes, she did die in a fire in the fishing shack by the beach. She nearly took David and Vicki with her from what Carolyn told me."

Quentin leaned forward and buried his head in his hands. "It cannot be the same woman are their pictures of her?" Quentin glanced up awaiting a response from Barnabas.

"I believe David has a whole album of pictures of when his mother was here and when they lived in Augusta."

Quentin stood, "So this Laura what was her part in having Carolyn take charge of Collinwood?"

"Apparently the woman had some mystical powers and as a phoenix she affected a spell over Elizabeth incapacitating her. Rendering her comatose."

"And you say that she nearly took David with her in the fire?"

"Yes, he was trapped in the fishing shack as Laura apparently went up in flames, had Vicki not been there and rescued him from the flames he would have died with her."

Quentin turned away his eyes narrowing and his face contorted in anger as he thought of what would have happened and then he said ever so softly, "To live again, rise as the phoenix you need a sacrifice to Ra."

"What was that?" Barnabas waited for Quentin to stand so they could proceed to the library where Trask awaited them.

"Nothing, just an old legend I heard of a long time ago while traveling in Egypt, that to seek immortality, you would need a human sacrifice to offer when you gave up your own life to the fire and Ra, that to give over someone you loved more than you loved your own life would guarantee your immortality."

Barnabas looked down at his hands. "It sounds like this was a subject you have researched fairly well, so would you mind to join me with Trask, I believe I will need you there to keep me from wanting to strangle the man."

Quentin had gone distant and then shook his head, smiled and stood up then followed Barnabas into the library. There they both observed Trask while he sat complacently drinking on his glass of cordial.

The rest of the evening whet quietly until Trask took his leave, Barnabas saw him out Lang and Willie entered the library. Lang sighed deeply, "Julia's serum did not factor in the reality that to bring someone along to a more stable human blood producing form would also allow the natural aging process to continue with the subject."

Barnabas glared at the Doctor as he listened impassively, "And the results have been reversed?" His words had been said so low and with such a calculated tone that Willie involuntarily shuddered, again those phases of anger that Barnabas was phases 3 for what was now coming out in the mega mad phase he silently prayed he would not be the recipient of the anger that was being contained.

"Oh yes, I reread her notes on the dosses for the subject to slowly revert the cellarer structure to produce the blood cells needed to rebuild the blood's content and she had a reversed engineered format in place, I have corrected it, given the subject whole blood through IV therapy and we should . . . "

Barnabas held his hand up and looked at Lang, "I don't care about the medical terms or the reason behind it, I want to know if it has been corrected."

"Why yes of course it has, with the whole blood transfusions he should be back to as he was before only this time more weakened and more able to tolerate sunlight in small dosses."

The same tenor of voice had filled his words when he spoke again, "I have heard from Julia, Vicki is in far more dire straights than we previously guessed."

Lang frowned, "That is not good."

"No I would say it is rather distressing to say the least. I may wish to move up our timetable to just get her out of that situation. How close are you to bringing him around so his vampiric senses are no longer available to him?"

Lang frowned and took his glasses off and began to tap them against his lips as he went into thought. "I would say we could elevate him by maybe this coming Friday?"

"Doctor Lang would you be asking me or telling me?" Again that tone that shot the fingers of fear into Willie's heart and squeezed.

Lang glanced up and smiled sheepishly, "I am sorry I have a habit of forming my thoughts in questions more for myself than the casual listener, no I am telling you we could have this to a point of taking him physically into daylight in three days time."

Barnabas stood and nodded, "Very good, well gentlemen I think to keep Elizabeth and Roger from becoming so concerned over Victoria's absence I will pay them a visit to assuage any concerns. I would suggest you find out what caused your lapse in security regarding Mr. Bradford."

"I know where I failed with Mr. Bradford. I thought because it was still daylight, that he would still be in his undead state, when I went to do the injection, the cross was hampering my injection sight so I took the cross off. That is when he opened his eyes and in a last ditch effort he reached up and choked me into unconsciousness but not until I yelled for help. The last thing I remember was Willie appeared and then I went out."

Willie nodded. "That is how I found him, going down as Clark choked him, I went to get more help, and that is when I felt my head being slammed into the wall and I went down and out."

"I suppose it was a good thing that we had daylight as our ally or we may be short one very aged vampire running around trying to revert himself back by attacking anyone he came in contact with not to mention our own lives being worth nothing to him after he regained control."

It was a chastisement in the irritated voice and a reminder that they were all playing a very dangerous game with a wounded vampire. "I suppose you have a new plan of action to avoid this problem in the future?"

Lang nodded, "Ultra Violate lights that can be turned on by a clap or snap of the fingers."

"This ultraviolet lights what do they do?"

"They are the rays or the part of the sunlight that affects you and your blood condition, they are the ones that are deadly and will cause your blood to begin to boil and your body to explode."

"Did you explain to Bradford what would happen if he tried his foolish attempts to escape again?"

"We did and he understands he will die, so we have a more docile and cooperative vampire to manage now."

"Very well then we will move our timetable up, now we need a neutral meeting place we both may agree on near Portland. Suggestions?"

Quentin smiled, "As a matter of fact I do have a suggestion but it will require us allowing the man in question in on our plan and what we are dealing with and whom. I know for a fact he knows Alexandru and his doctor Klaus very well and he happens to be a very close friend of mine."

"Whom might that be?" Barnabas had been playing with the ink pin on his desk.

"Professor Timothy Stokes, of Portland University." He watched Barnabas' hand froze and his head shot up.

"Stokes you said Stokes?""

"Yes, a dear friend and he is an Emeritus status at the University. I believe he comes from this area he was researching a relative of his from the late 1700's."

"Ben Stokes." Barnabas smiled thinking about his old friend and manservant from the days he lived here as a young man. Ben had been his servant and had performed his duties without question or fail.

Willie looked up and noted the reaction and frowned. "Y_eah that is the name of the man that does things better than me."_ Willie's thoughts were filled with what, was he feeling jealous because this was the perfect Ben?

"_Hardly perfect just efficient Willie, something you do not show nor have in your vocabulary_." He glanced up to see Barnabas staring into his eyes; the look was one of nostalgia and regret. "He was a good man Willie, a very good man and he never disappointed me or lied to me." Barnabas had said this out loud catching the attention of Quentin.

"You knew his ancestor?"

"Yes, he was my man servant when I lived here in the late 1700's. He was an indentured servant to my father and worked his debt off instead of stealing, lying or cheating others." He pointedly looked at Willie when he spoke of Ben. "Can you contact this friend of yours and see if he will meet with us tomorrow? His place or here would be fine, I will give him limited information just for security reasons."

"Of course, when I leave here and get back to Collinwood, I will give him a call, I may even drive up there tomorrow and audit one of his classes."

Barnabas stood and smiled, "Thank you Quentin, and will let us see what we need to do to set this up for Friday. Willie you will go tomorrow and pick up the artifact. Bring it back here without fail. Is that understood?"

Willie nodded but held his resentment to himself his anger began to cloud any further contact with Barnabas telepathically. The men walked towards the drawing room to stop short and peer at the figure that now stood in the center of the room. Her ethereal small form smiled she looked at Barnabas and then to Dr. Lang, Quentin, and Willie.

"Sarah!" Barnabas dropped to knelling so he would be eye to eye with the sweet-faced child he had held when she took her last breath. Rushing forward she buried her face in his shoulder and started to weep.

"You need to hurry dear brother Miss Winters will die if you do not hurry."

Later after everyone leaves

Barnabas walked from the library and paused, standing in the doorway, was a figure dressed in black clothing. His voice was harsh and raspy. "You should never have pissed off the Baron. Now you die." He lifted his gun and fired point blank into Barnabas' chest. The assassin aimed and emptied his gun into Barnabas center mass. Barnabas stood blinking with each report made. When the man had emptied his clip into the man in frnt of him he finally knew fear. The man had not flinched he had not shown signs of being hit. Instead the man in from of him just smiled.

"I wondered with that buffoon would make his move and now I will make mine." Barnabas was on him bend his neck and biting into him. Draining him to a husk, then letting him drop to the floor. Looking down at the body on the floor he glanced up to see the look of resignation on Willie's face.

"Do I need to dig a grave?" He was not happy but he understood Barnabas did not have any choice.

"No, strip any identification from his body and bring it to me, take the body and dump it in the ocean. Leave him for the tides to take out. Then Willie you may go to bed."

Taking the identification from the man's body, which was very little, Barnabas packaged it up. Addressing it to Mercia. Smiling he sat back and really wished he could be the one to be there when he had Sarah deliver the package with the man's finger and his identification. "Brother are you sure?"

"Sarah, just leave it in the center of his desk he will know and wonder how I could get it delivered so quickly, he might be worried enough that he won't do any more harm to Miss Winters." He watched her smile and lift the envelope and disappear with it.

Alexandru's castle

Sarah appeared in the library, glancing up hearing his voice off in the distant she heard him approach the library so she quickly placed the envelope on his desk, disappearing, she stepped back in the corner to watch his reaction. "_Brother he is coming now_." Her words were soft and in his mind.

Alexandru was laughing about how he was able to dispatch his assassin and they would not be dealing with Mr. Barnabas Collins anymore. Walking into the library he paused and saw the bubbled packed envelope and walked to the desk and observed the scripted writing of his name on the envelope. Lifting it he frowned, then opening it he saw something wrapped in plastic and a note, with some form of personal identification.

Taking the note out he dropped the ID and the plastic wrapped item on his desk and opened th envelope. "The next time you send someone to kill me, make sure they are more competent than this one, this is only a small example of what I can do and will do to you when we meet again. Barnabas Collins."

Alexandru was not happy, while he carefully unfolded the plastic wrapped item. Sitting heavily he looked up to Klaus, "How the hell could he know and do this? What manner of man is this?"

"A dangerous one obviously."

The next morning Portland

Quentin pulled up into the guest parking area of the University. Tucking his tie in his coat, he lifted his head and looked around at the ancient looking buildings that held many a honorable scholar in his past days. He smiled when the wind picked up and blew his full head of curly hair over his face and he unconsciously shook his head to remove his curly hair from his eyes.

"Oh my god is that Grant Douglas?" One college female co-ed squealed to her friend and dug through her load of books to pull out his latest novel. Rushing up to him to get an autograph. The jacket cover on the back had him posed looking studious with his arms folded and his square chin resting on his folded knuckles looking sexily into the camera. The suit he had worn that day was the one he wore now. The girl's other female friend followed she too was shifting her books to pull out her book. Before long Quentin had gathered quiet a small crowd and was signing books and smiling his appreciation and winking at some of the girls causing them to giggle and flush a bright pink at his attentiveness.

The crowd had gathered both students and faculty, a uniform car pulled to a halt and two officers exited the vehicle. "Sorry no unlawful gatherings allowed, you all will need to move along!" The officers stepped forward to see what was causing the stir and paused. Harry Stiles elbowed his partner Joe Barker and spoke softly, "Hey ain't that Grant Douglas the author?"

Joe snickered and shrugged. "How the hell would I know I only read Play Boy or Penthouse."

Professor Haggerty sniffed, "Does not surprise me you were a piss poor student in history and I seriously doubted you knew how to read Barker." The group was being dispersed and that left Quentin with Stiles and Barker.

"Gentlemen, would you please direct me to Professor Stokes class, I was going to audit his class today."

Stiles snorted and sighed. "He aint here today."

"Oh and where is he today?"

"He was outta the country until last night I guess he is home resting up before he comes back tomorrow." That was Joe Barker who was still feeling the cut by the professor on his academics.

Quentin turned and entered his nice sports car, "Man it must pay good to be a writer to have a sweet ride like this." Barker had walked to Quentin's car door and much as he would rub a lover he slid his hands over the car with a true appreciation for the cherry red sportster.

Quentin smiled with a genuine twinkle in his deep blue eyes. "Yes, it is good to be the author as much as it is good to be the King of your own world, later gentlemen."

He pulled away with a gun of his engine and a slight squeal of his tires Barker stepped back with a wide grin. "Guess I should have paid more attention during English Class, maybe I could be driving something like that instead of breaking up fights or kegger parties at the sororities."

University Drive

Quentin enjoyed the warmth of the day, they would be few and far between in a couple of months and he would not be able to drive with the top down much longer. He also was glad the rain had moved out last night and left the day feeling fresh and crisp. Navigating his way off campus he drove at a little higher speed on the open road and was glad that most the state police would be tied up in the north toll road areas today with a move of a large old house being transported six miles to a new location. He would have to watch out for the local yokels. However, for now he would appreciate the speed that lay between his hands and under his feet shifting the gears and tore up the highway.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Portland University Square

Professor Stokes' Cottage

Driving down a narrow street with a very neatly set of cottage style houses Quentin pulled up in front of a two story house that was a little run down but neatly kept. The yard meticulously groomed, the shrubs cut to perfection and a nice flowerbed to break up the monotony of green that seemed to cover the ivy covered house. "He is gonna regret that one day if those vines get under his shingles." He muttered slamming the car door and stretched those long legs up the walkway to pause at the front door. He smiled watching the door open and a pretty blond girl of fourteen stepped out of the house carrying a book bag over her shoulder. She paused when he saw him. Quentin could see she had pretty features and bright blue eyes. She looked at him cautiously.

"Hello." Her voice was cautiously low but sweet. She studied him with assessing eyes and he noted with her curiosity she held a hint of caution edging her eyes.

He was surprised as well, he knew that Elliott did not have children and she definitely came from this house. "I was under the impression that Professor Stokes lived here."

"He does. He is inside going over some new books he brought back from Romania, may I tell him who is calling." She had hesitated in allowing him access to the house and Quentin could not imagine where she was headed since most schools were in session.

"Would you tell him his old friend Quentin Collins has come calling and. . . " He reached into the backseat and pulled up a cut glass crystal bottle with a label that indicated it was filled with sherry. " . . . I come baring gifts?" She finally smiled looking from him to the bottle.

Turning quickly caused her full dress to flare out then fall and shift with its weight around her body and she walked back to the front door opened it and called, "Uncle Elliott you have a visitor, a Quentin Collins and he has Sherry."

'Uncle Elliott' she had called him uncle, so this must have been Joseph's daughter Haley, Harriett, no Hallie. That was it this was little Hallie all nearly grown up. "My goodness you have grown up Miss Hallie and how pretty you are."

She smiled and looked at him with those ever dissecting and bright blue eyes she said softly, "Poppa used to say that simple flattery should not be given credence and that honest flattery should be accepted at face value but appreciated." She sounded just like her father another extremely educated man that had chosen the field of archeology as his field of endeavor and that was where he had met Kathleen his wife and they had one child and now that child stood in front of him. The problem was when she had spoken of her father she had done it in a past tense and in sad fashion.

The large barrel chested man with heavy jowls and a bright enough smile and full lips opened the door wider and peered over to the man detaining his niece. "Hallie move along now Miss Jennings is expecting you to get you up to par with your studies before we enroll you in your school."

Hallie smiled and curtsied to her uncle; an action that was a little out dated but nonetheless charming. "Yes Uncle Elliott, I shall be home no later than five p.m."

He nodded and watched her stroll with a natural grace down the pathway and out of sight. "She looks more and more like Kathleen every day. Pity she won't be able to know her better."

Quentin looked from Hallie back to the Professor and frowned, "I did not get to know Kathleen and why the deuce not?" Quentin sounded defensive for the sweet girl and wondered if she was here because of a fall out between the parents.

"Quentin dear boy come in do come in." Smiling widely he noted the bottle in his hand, "Oh and you brought some of that lovely Collins sherry I do so love." He stepped aside to allow Quentin access to his home. Quentin stepped in and felt the hominess of an educated man that had filled his life with books, study of the occult, and artifacts that held an ageless smell of the past. Stepping into the cozy cottage he stepped to a chair and dropped to it making himself at home. Handing the bottle up to Elliott who had followed Quentin smiling and pointedly eyeing the sherry bottle. "Ahh excellent, would you like a nip before we get down to the reason you come to me on my first day back from Bucharest?"

"I would love to share a nip with you Elliott old boy, and I have a question and favor to make of you." Quentin thought it best to not dance around the reason for his visit. He knew time was of the essence.

"Would it have to do with Alexandru Mircea?" He handed the glass to Quentin's nerveless fingers. Quentin caught the glass as it began to slip through his fingers and clutched the delicate stem tightly in his hand he looked at Elliott in shock.

"How in the name of Hades could you have possibly known I was here to talk about Alexandru?"

"Because my dear boy, I saw him while I was in Bucharest and he was extremely agitated with you and Gregory Trask and a gentleman by the name of Barnabas Collins. I do believe he had some poor unfortunate young woman held captive because of you and those other two gentlemen."

"Well he does have a Collins family member held captive because I have the ankh of the dead and was not going to give it to him. So he was quid pro quo in hopes of forcing me to do his bidding."

Elliott sat down then leaned back and sighed as he breathed in the smell of the excellently blended sherry in his hand and now under his nose. He practically drooled for a taste of this exquisite blend. Lifting it to sip it and hold the flavor to his tastes buds he closed his eyes and smiled. "Just as I remembered. It is excellent my dear boy. Now do catch me up on what has been happening and then I shall tell you of my newest charge that found herself orphaned and on my door step."

Obviously Quentin was sad to hear this about Joseph and his wife were possibly dead but he did need Elliott's help. However, before he told him everything, he needed to find out what Alexandru had wanted with him. "Well Elliott we have a bit of a pickle. We have or rather I have created a huge problem and I have inadvertently put Miss Winters in some serious danger."

Elliott was savoring the flavor of his drink while he listened, he appeared to be more interested in the drink he held than what Quentin had to say but Quentin knew it was the opposite he just held his feelings in and his thoughts would not be offered until he was asked for them. "Do go on, I am listening."

"Elliott, before I go on, I need to know what Alexandru wanted with you."

"He wanted me to translate some artifact he had, a book of the living dead or some such none sense. He feels he can bring back someone that had died by using this book."

Quentin frowned, "Did you translate it?"

"Of course I did, it was a fascinating read and very informative. However, the book is useless without two other components. He does not have them at this time so he cannot bring back anyone. I can hardly see him trying to do a black mass to any ancient god and hoping that some urn filled with dust will suddenly come to life for him." Elliott looked at his friend, "Are you afraid to tell me what is going on for fear I will betray you to him? I can assure you my association with Alexandru who by the way is a direct descendant of Vlad the Impaler also known as Vlad Dracul, was informative and purely investigatory for academic purposes."

Quentin knew he was being very truthful; taking a big deep breath he closed his eyes and began to speak. "What if I were to tell you we have our hands on an actual living dead being, a vampire?"

Stokes nearly choked on his sherry he sat forward and his eyes widen and he opened and closed his mouth sat back, composed himself and then spoke softly, "Go on you have my complete attention."

"We have at Collinwood in the Old House there a man that lived back in 1797 and was cursed by a witch and was turned into a vampire. His name is Peter Bradford and he is at this time slowly being changed back into a warm living and breathing human being that will not crave or need blood to live out his existence."

Quentin's voice had grown soft while he spoke and the room had taken on an eerie silence when Quentin paused to organize his thoughts. Quentin began to speak calmly and in low voice. "I wish to tell you that Alexandru Mircea is also as old if not older and had a grudge with Mr. Bradford. He hates him intensely and we have captured Mr. Bradford in hopes of convincing Alexandru to release Miss Winters unharmed."

Elliott stood and walked to his desk and shuffled through some papers he had and then lifted up a file and turned back to face Quentin holding the file out for him to take. "Here is everything I have accumulated over the years on the subject of vampires. I always felt they did exist and that perhaps at one time Alexandru may have been the original Dracula. However he was seen during the day and he has a reflection in the mirror, I really believe he likes spending time in front of his mirror."

Quentin took the folder and smiled, "Thank you Elliott but I was wondering if you would like to come back to Collinwood with me tonight and to the Old House to meet this man that had made Baron Mircea angry. Barnabas Collins resides in the old house and has a romantic interest in the woman that Alexandru his holding."

"I would be extremely interested in meeting this Barnabas Collins and the vampire where is he?"

"We have him contained in the cellar of the old house and you could examine him if you wish."

Stokes held up his hand. "Merely to look up on such a creature would finally validate what I have always known must exist."

His beady eyes shone with excitement then he sighed. "But I must arrange for Hallie to stay somewhere before we go, I simply cannot leave her here alone so soon after loosing her parents."

"I am so sorry to hear this Elliott what happened?"

"The details are still sketchy her parents were doing an archeological dig near some ruins in Samaria and they disappeared, leaving Hallie alone in their tent and poor girl was in shock and she cannot recall what happened. Of course as distressed as she was they needed to place her with someone with which she could feel safe."

"Well why not bring her back with us to Collinwood, I am sure Elizabeth would welcome here there as a distraction for David. With Miss Winters gone he has been a bit at odds and into more trouble than most boys his age, which by the way he is close to Hallie's age."

"Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard, interesting and lovely woman, have not seen her about or heard anything of her in over twenty years, is she still the ravishing beauty she was in those days?"

"Elizabeth is still very beautiful and very kind hearted and she hired Miss Winters as David's governess and has adopted her into the family and considers her as family now."

"I see, well we shall await her return from her classes and then I shall propose the trip to her, I am sure she will not mind."

"I shall call Elizabeth and speak with her about Hallie."

"Good, good, and then you can go over that file and see what I have collected. So you say someone is trying to 'cure' him of his vampirism that might that be?"

Quentin had stood and stepped to the phone and began to dial Collinwood. "Doctor Julia Hoffman and Dr. Eric Lang."

"Fascinating, I happen to have copies of their dissertation papers for their post graduate thesis that they claimed the only thing that separated the vampire or potential vampire was a destructive cell in their blood stream that would prohibit the development of more cells to produce their own blood so that was the main reason they craved the blood of others. I would be most anxious to discuss their theories with them and look forward to this evening with great anticipation"

"Hello Carolyn, this is Quentin is your mother there?" Quentin had waited for the phone to be picked up on the other end while it rang through. He heard Carolyn's happy cherry voice and smiled asking for Elizabeth. Hearing her lay the phone down and bellow in typical Carolyn style he waited. He did not have long to wait for the phone to be picked up.

"Hello this is Elizabeth Collins Stoddard how may I help you?"

"Liz dear it is Quentin."

"Quentin my goodness where are you that you need to call me?"

"I am in Portland with a dear friend that is a rather staid and staunch old bachelor that has just found himself with his fourteen year old niece and well I was bringing him home to Collinwood and we were wondering if we could bring Hallie?"

"I would be delighted to have her, so do bring her here and we shall make her welcome and if they must spend the night I can have Mrs. Johnson make up rooms for them."

"That would be wonderful Liz, thank you so much for your assistance in this." Quentin rang off and smiled, "She would be delighted to have you both spend the night and will set up rooms for you. That way you can quiz Dr. Lang all you wish, unfortunately Julia is in Bucharest at this time checking up on Vicki."

"As long as I can speak to one of them it will suit my needs and answer my questions although I would very much like to meet the lovely Doctor Hoffman. I understand she is brilliant."

Quentin chuckled, "Sounds like to me you got a crush on her and you have not met her."

"Don't be ridiculous, I admire her mind and her tenacity of sticking by her thesis she was laughed out of the auditorium when she presented her paper and rather made fun of and eventually went into obscurity, I fear her talent was wasted wherever she went."

"Oh I can assure you she went to a Sanitarium and followed her second field of study which was psychology. She has been running her father's clinic for many years from what I understand she made quiet a name for herself in the field of mental diseases and curing drug addicts."

"Ahh so she is that Dr. Hoffman, she was just listed as J. A. Hoffman in the research records and I assumed she was her father James Allen Hoffman."

"I think she took his initials to hide so she would not be turned down outright for her abilities, she has been successful in memory recovery and she is currently working with Eric Lang on the theories she outlined in her papers here." He had fished through the file and had done some speed reading and skimming and got the gist of what she was saying in her paper.

Elliott Stokes pursed his lips and recalled the fiery redhead that stood proud and angry as the crowd snickered as her dissertation when she read from her paper. At least the science community found it interesting enough not to deny her Doctorate, the fact her grades had been impeccable and the highest grade point average attained by most of the students that year would preclude her from loosing her position to obtain her doctorial degree. He knew she must have had it mailed to her, since she was absent from the roll call for handing out graduate degrees from the podium.

He had been somewhat sadden that he knew he would never see her again and sorry that the narrow minded community that was a part of his fellowship had been so harsh to her and he could not wonder if they had done it because of the fact that she was a woman.

He would finally get to formally meet her he supposed, he looked at Quentin studying the file. "Quentin you said you had a favor of me?"

"Oh yes, we need a neutral point for the exchange of the vampire, and the ankh and Miss Winters. We were hoping we could use your house for this exchange."

"I am not sure I am comfortable with having Alexandru in my home, I would like to suggest a better place for the exchange and one I think would be a bit more open and public to assure that no chicanery is attempted by Alexandru or Klaus I really do not trust either man."

"We don't either but we could not think of any where here but your place when Alexandru suggested here, we know this is where he kept his private plane that he transported Vicki out of the country and where Julia was taken to be flow from the country."

Elliott frowned and stood walked to his desk again and shuffled through his mass of disheveled papers on his desk. "Interesting he would wish to use Portland as the exchange point, I know the man fairly well by his nature and he appears to be a man that has a hidden agenda."

"Well actually it was Barnabas that would not agree to turn over anything to him unless it was here in the States, and naturally Alexandru did not want to give us advantage on our home court, so he suggested Portland."

"No he manipulated you to get you here to Portland, I think he anticipated that you would want to do it here in the States there had to be a reason for this and I am pretty sure and I suspect I know why."

Quentin looked up studying the kind and brilliant older gentleman. "And what do you suspect."

"He knows that the old ruins near the outskirts of the woods here holds a special alter that has puzzled many for years but holds a special interest for most of those that practice the black arts. I suspect they are sure they can get the help of the Leviathans or one Judah Zachary to help him effect his black mass he hopes to perform"

Neither name meant anything to Quentin he thought about what he knew of the Leviathans he knew they were an ancient and dark occult group that dated back to the beginning of time and that they had some wild idea of hoping to bring a super race to conquer the world, but it had all been speculation and things fairy tales had been made of nothing substantial to support it. As for Judah Zachary was a name he had never heard of.

"I know a bit about the Leviathans but it was mostly hearsay and thoughts or suppositions, nothing concrete or substantial. As for that other name, never heard of him."

"Well my boy, in that file you will find several references to both and you will also find references from past Collins family members that had run ins with both and how they dealt with them."

Quentin began to read again only this time he read more slowly so he could absorbed more of what had been written and the more he read the more he was convinced Elliott was right, Alexandru had manipulated them to have the exchange here and one of the reasons was that he would need a sacrifice for his raising of the dead and the victim had to be a virgin.

Then it struck him, Alexandru never had any intention of giving Vicki back to them, he was going to use her as his sacrifice to bring back his long lost love, her pure soul for the soul of his lost love. "My God, the man is insane." Quentin glanced and watched Elliott nodded his head.

"My thoughts exactly dear boy, my thoughts exactly."

Collinwood

Quentin escorted Hallie and Professor Stokes into the foyer and closed the door. He watched Callie's eyes widen and she smiled then she whispered to her Uncle. "Uncle Elliott it's like a castle!"

From the top of the stairs the voice of David spoke loudly "Yeah a haunted castle." He had spread his arms along the upstairs landing's bannister and looked with interest at the pretty blond girl with wide blue eyes.

Elliott chuckled watching Hallie not react to the threat of hauntings in a huge house. "My dear young man, you will find that Hallie has spent many a year with the dead and objects of the dead."

"Yeah I know that is what Sarah said and that she was coming, why don't you come on up here Hallie and I will show you where you will be staying, I am David Collins." He waited watching her looked from her Uncle to him and then smiled and d on delicate footsteps walk towards the grand staircase and fingered the finely polished wood while she glided her hand up the bannister with each step she took.

"You have a very lovely home David. Who is Sarah and how did she know my name?" David watched and rolled his eyes he turned to lead her through the door into the private sleeping area of the Collins Family.

"Sarah lives here as a ghost, she knows everything." His voice disappeared with the closing of the door and left Quentin setting bags and baggage down in the hallway.

"Why don't you go on into the drawing room and I will find Elizabeth and let her know we are here."

"Not necessary Quentin I am here. Would you be kind enough to take Professor Stokes bags to the blue room and I put Callie near David in the green room."

Elliott turned to peer at a very stunning and aging beautifully Elizabeth Collins Stoddard a Grande Dame that define the word elegance and decorum. "Mrs. Stoddard I am charmed." He bowed then took her hand and kissed it with a tenderness that showed he had been raised and cultivated to the qualities of a gentleman.

Elizabeth flattered by such a show smiled her most charming and natural smile turned and extended her hand. "This way Professor, I understand from Quentin your drink of choice is Madeira or no it's sherry correct?"

"Yes my dear lady, Sherry is preferred though I would never turn down a good year of Madeira one is from Spain and the other is from Portugal and they both have their qualities but I must say my palate does lean more towards a good glass of Sherry."

"Then I am glad I had Carolyn bring up both so you can choose which you would like and do make yourself comfortable. I fear dinner will be delayed this evening due to Mrs. Johnson's sister. She fell from a ladder and had to be taken to the hospital and it appears she has broken her ankle, so I am preparing our meal and I got started late." Elizabeth folded her hands together and smiled while she directed Elliott to the sideboard that held the various decanters of liquors.

"Thank you for your generous hospitality and taking us on so short noticed. I believe dinner will coincide with our return from your cousins home, the old house?" He poured himself a small glass of sherry, lifted it sniffed, swirled it in the glass, tasted by swirling it around in his mouth and swallowing with a delighted sigh. "Ahh excellent year. If the Madeira is as good as this Sherry I may be tempted to taste it later."

"Please feel free to do so." Liz strolled across the room, still carrying herself as the matriarch she was and folded herself with grace on the sofa. "So, you are here to meet and visit with Barnabas? I know that Quentin has been spending a great deal of time at the old house of late, which pleases me that he is getting to know Barnabas. He has become an extended member of our family and we enjoy his company tremendously."

"I do so look forward to meeting him, I understand he had history pertaining to the time that my great, great grandfather lived in this area and look forward to conversing about the times."

"Well yes, it appears he has made his study of the past as an avocation of our history and study of the late 1700's and early 1800's but his research was mainly involving the Collins Family so I am not sure how much help he may offer." Elizabeth politely offered her smile as a form of an apology and found the gentleman rather pleasant to converse about history.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Collinwood drawing room

Quentin entered the drawing room and smiled brightly, "Well your bags are on your bed Elliott and Hallie is unpacking as we speak. After you have finished your drink would you care to go with me to the old house, I am sure Barnabas is getting home about now." Quentin knew Barnabas had been up for an hour since it was going past six pm and the sun had set at 5:30. The days were getting shorter so there was less daylight. He knew that Lang would be there with Willie and he was most anxious to tell Barnabas of Elliott's theory that Knightwing had manipulated them to pick the exchange here in the states. That they had always intended to be here and use Vicki as their sacrificial lamb on the Leviathans alter.

Elliott tipped the last drop of his sherry into his mouth and smiled. "Then I suggest we be on our way although I am finding Mrs. Stoddard's company extremely delightful." He smiled his appreciation and stood setting the glass on the sideboard. "My appreciation for an excellent sherry my dear lady." He bowed and then followed Quentin out of the house.

The road to the old house

"I must confess I am quite excited to meet Mr. Barnabas Collins, he sounds a fascinating individual."

"I think you will not be disappointed in my cousin, he is very different. He is the kind of man you will find seems to be lost to the past. He is very old world."

"I would expect anyone that entrenches themselves in the study of history to become a part of that history and find it is not uncommon that they become reclusive and prefer their books and privacy. It is something about the perceived romance of the time that seems to draw them back and hold onto them."

"Well yes, Barnabas certainly is reclusive and does demand his privacy." Quentin admitted cryptically while he navigated the roads to drive towards the entrance road leading to the old house."

"I see he did bow to some convention of modernization by putting gravel on his road."

"A necessity I assure you, I am trying to talk him into blacktopping it before winter, and he recently conceded to having electricity installed in the old house, when he originally restored it he preferred the touch of candles for light and fireplaces for heat. I believe it was Miss Winters that convinced him that he would be more comfortable by adding the electricity, phone and heat as well as air conditioning and Dr. Hoffman was successful in convincing him to add a generator to provide a back up for his electricity should the power go out."

Old House

"Then he is some what flexible it seems. How do you think he will react to the information I have provided?" Elliott was studying the large early colonial style house with the large pillars and the majestic entrance to what appeared to be original cornices and gargoyles statues on the roof and oaken double doors. "What an utterly beautiful piece of architecture, I wished he would be more open to inviting visitors I would love to bring my pre-colonial history students here and let them just get a feel of the ambience of this place."

"Well unfortunately he guards his privacy well, but I do understand he plans to throw another grand ball for the New Year, that is I believe if we are able to bring Miss Winter's home in one piece."

Elliott sighed as Quentin shut the vehicle off and turned off his headlights. Elliott was grateful for the current lighting features being flipped on with the extinguishing of Quentin's lights. He at least did not need to fear stumbling or falling and hurting an ankle or hip. He noted this place was very isolated. "I can easily see how this place got the reputation of being a haunted mansion."

Quentin smiled, "Trust me Professor this place is haunted by three ghosts that I know of and two I have seen personally. One is less present now that its occupied but she lets her presence be known when she is needed."

"Oh that would be the very beautiful but tragic Miss Josette duPres Collins, wife to Jeremiah Collins, killed herself I read threw herself off some cliff nearby called Widows Hill?"

"Yes, that would be Josette, you may get to meet her yet before we are done." Quentin pocketed his keys and led the way to the front entrance. "Then there is Sarah Collins she seems to prefer this house since she lived in this house but she does frequent David at Collinwood a lot according to David."

"I so hope I get to meet them both. It would be fascinating." The door opened and Willie stood shifting from one foot to the other.

"Um he is in the library and he is not happy Quentin, so you are warned." Willie ducked his chin, hiding the bruised eye he was sporting and Quentin noticed right away.

"What happened Willie? Where did you get the shiner?" Quentin reached for his chin and looked down at the nasty swollen eye.

"It ain't what you think, it wasn't him, it was Bradford he slammed me into the wall again but this time, the lights came on and he began to scream and fell down as the ultra violet light burned into him. He became more cooperative when Lang got here."

"So Bradford is still trying to escape after Barnabas promised him we would help him?" Quentin sounded astonished and knew now why Barnabas was irritated, he had a hatred for Bradford and was still having to placate him until this whole mess was over.

"Not any more, Barnabas had us chain him to the wall with silver chains so he won't get any coffin time until he learns to be more, to be more ap apr appreciative." Willie sounded out the word and smiled when he got it right.

"That will certainly make him testy." Stokes observed stepping into the foyer and looked around with a deep appreciation. "What a fantastic representation of the pre colonial period. Is the whole structure this way?" Elliott stepped in further to look at the drawing room and noted it held to the period so well that he was nearly overwhelmed. He was thinking this must have been the very house his great times two grandfather must have lived and worked until he was released from his indenture status.

Old House Library

"This way Elliott, we are expecting a confirmation phone call from Alexandru in about thirty minutes and we need to let Barnabas know what you know and what you suspect." Elliott allowed him to lead him through the rooms and looked around at all the lovely notable pieces of architecture that was present in this representation. Quentin guided him down a long wide hallway and stopped outside a door then opened it.

Opening the door he allowed Elliott into the room. Elliott entered and faced off with the man of some distinction sitting behind a desk that looked at him in utter and complete shock. "Ben?" Barnabas stood immediately sizing up the distinguished looking man in modern dress and appearing to be an exact double of Ben Stokes, his manservant from the past.

"Beg pardon? No Elliott, although I have often thought I bare a striking resemblance to my great, great, grandfather." Elliott smiled studying the man that was dressed for these times but held a aura about him that spoke of the past a dead past that wanted to cling to him and not let him go.

Barnabas felt humbled in his presence he stepped around his desk to take his hand and shake it. "I do beg your pardon I thought for a moment that I had seen. . . " Barnabas spoke softly and then was interrupted by Elliott.

"Ghost, well I dare say living in this house you should be accustomed to seeing a ghost. But I assure you I am no ghost nor am I my great, great grandfather Mr. Collins I presume?" He shook Barnabas' hand.

"My pleasure please sit and may I get you some claret cup or sherry?'

"Oh now cousin, you just found his weakness, he adores the Collin's sherry." Quentin laughed sitting down and relaxed against the comfortable wing back chair.

Barnabas being the perfect host poured them all a glass of sherry then sat down behind his desk. "Now, then Quentin indicated you have some kind of supposition to propose about our current dilemma and that you feel we were manipulated into arranging the trade off here in the United States?'

Elliott once again enjoyed the snifter sip of sherry and sighed contentedly, "I must say should I remain here I would become overly fond of your liquors and refuse to leave." Elliott with much regret set the glass down and looked from both men.

"Yes, I believe that Alexandru is planning on trying to raise his dearly departed love, a young woman by the name of Phyllis Wycke." Hearing the woman's name Barnabas frowned and shifted uneasily.

"Oh I see the young lady's name has some meaning to you as it should since you have researched your family you would of course know the young lady in question was the governess to the original Barnabas Collins sister a very lovely young girl by the name of Sarah and the Collins Family cousin Daniel Collins."

"Yes," Barnabas had spoke barely above a sad whisper he turned to hide his discomfiture at the mention of his sister and poor Miss Wycke. "Please Professor, do sit and illuminate me as to what you believe Alexandru Mircea is planning."

Elliott sat in the chair that had been arranged in front of the desk. Barnabas sat back in his chair. "While I was in Bucharest, Alexandru Mircea asked me to come to his home to examine a book he had procured, it was the Egyptian Book of the Dead." Elliott took time to swallow another drink then sat the glass down and looked over to the decanter a hint he wanted a little more sherry.

Barnabas nodded; Quentin stood lifted the crystal decanter and stepped to refill Elliott's glass. "Oh thank you dear boy, you know the way to my heart. Now then, I did translate it and it was specific on what was required to bring back the dead. It had to have the ankh of Lucifer, the words of the ancient mystic Anise, and a virgin for the sacrifice. The book offered only the first part of the ritual, the second and most important part are the words which I understood had been hidden in an antique crystal ball that had been purchased by Devlin Enterprises. The crystal ball seemed to disappear with the death of the C.E.O. of said Enterprises."

Elliott sighed, "Now as for why he wanted you to invite him to do the exchange in the United States, near Portland and the university there are some very ancient woods. These woods have an old stone alter that at one time must have been built by an ancient race called the Leviathans, a race of people that hoped to bring a super race to crush this world and take it over. Also in the area are ancient temple ruins that were at one time thought to be used by pagans that had formed during your pre colonial period and dictated by one Judah Zachary, a man that was found guilty of witchcraft by one of your very own relatives and ancestors Mr. Collins, I believe Amadeus Collins and Judah cursed your family. So my thoughts are that he will try to use Miss Winters providing she is still a virgin as his sacrifice on the alter of the Leviathans and call upon Judah's power to bring forth and activate the book of the dead."

Elliott finished his dissertation of his thoughts and took a long satisfying drink of the excellent sherry. "Now, my proposal would be as follows. You plan to exchange this Peter Bradford for Miss Winters and Doctor Hoffman along with the ankh, I would have to assume that he must have found the crystal ball and gotten the fourth part of his ritual and is ready to perform the black mass on the devil's Sabbath. Which would be in three days time, so we are on a time constraints to make sure that what you plan to do is in place before he is able to perform the ceremony thereby eliminating Miss Winter's life."

Barnabas had grown very quiet, not much of what he had said had been that much of a surprise to him, and he had already known most of it. "Quentin explained you would not be comfortable using your house, so you were proposing another location?"

"Yes, my classroom at the College, and I wanted to take it a step further, I wanted to make sure we had the location of the sacrifice covered in case they take Miss Winters there early and then they try to kill you after the exchange goes down."

Barnabas smiled without little humor to the smile. "I would like to see him try to kill me. I am afraid that Mr. Mircea is in for a very nasty time once we meet. I plan to kill him and leave nothing of him behind."

"That my dear boy would be impossible unless you were have possession of his Charles Delaware Tate portrait."

Quentin had sat quietly through the entire conversation and the room had grown very cold and intensely silent in spots. Then the most wondrous thing happened at least for Stokes it was wondrous the small child with the angelic voice spoke sweetly. "I like you Professor Stokes you are very smart and you are right."

Barnabas stood abruptly, "Sarah!" He felt his heart warm at the sight of her and she smiled at him, "Oh dear brother how you have changed. But you must listen to Professor Stokes, they are going to use Vicki as the sacrifice, and she will die unless you do as he instructs." She walked to stand and study the professor. "You do look like Ben, only more studious, and clean. I liked Ben and he would be very happy to know his son's son grew up to be so smart."

Sarah smiled and then skipped through the wall and out of the room. Stokes grinned. "I can die a happy man. I can honestly say I have seen my first true ghost. However Mr. Collins, she did call you brother, is she confused?"

Barnabas looked down and sighed, "Yes, she is confused." It was the hardest thing he had to do to deny his own sister but in order to preserve his identify and his existence he had to lie and prayed secretly she understood why. "So you suggest we use your class room and then what?"

"Oh yes, I was quiet excited at seeing a real ghost, we ask that they take us to Miss Winters and as egotistical as I suspect that Alexandru is, he will wish to make an example of you and make you witness his execution of Miss Winters in his mass."

Barnabas sat back and smiled, "I am depending on it. I do want to secure Doctor Hoffman's safety and Miss Winters from this whole sordid affair and then I will kill Alexandru Mircea."

Again he had said his plans were to kill Alexandru but from what Elliott knew the man was like Quentin he could not be killed as long as he had his portrait secured somewhere, he was practically indestructible.

"You leave Alexandru to me Professor Stokes, I will leave you handling the 'exchange' with our Romanian friends. Now we should be getting a phone call at any moment." Barnabas sat back and folded his hands on his desk. He was going to be patient to a point but as far as he was concerned, Alexandru Mircea had used up all his lives and he was due to be sent straight to hell.

The phone rang and Barnabas leaned forward and waited, he let it ring again, and finally after the third ring he reached for the phone and lifted it answering. "Collins."

"I was beginning to wonder if you were even home Mr. Collins. Did you get what I wanted?" Alexandru almost purred this had been too easy and he had played these fools like a base fiddle including his doctor Klaus who had no idea what his intentions were for Miss Winters once they reached the states.

"I do, I have the missing page from the crystal ball. Now allow me to speak with Doctor Hoffman."

There was a transfer of hands and Julia spoke. "Barnabas, Julia here."

"Julia tell me of any improvements in our last conversation?"

"Slow but we are making some progress. It all depends on the patient and the will to live."

"I see, and what would help this current situation to give her hope?"

"Hearing from you. Hearing you still care, knowing you will be there for her."

"That is your diagnosis as a her physician?"

"Yes, and she does need it Barnabas, some hope."

"Very well tell Alexandru I want to talk to her and that we will be prepared to do the exchange day after tomorrow."

There was the sound of the phone being handed over and Alexandru was on the phone, "So you wish to speak to Miss Winters, Klaus is bringing her now and day after tomorrow will be fine. I got your message. Just be assured message received and shall we place a bet on who will win in this last battle?"

Barnabas smiled, "If I were you Alexandru I would not bet your life on this and it now belongs to me." He knew that Alexandru had been listening in on the conversation so he had been very direct and non descript when asking his questions and only asked questions that had been expected from him.'

The phone was picked up when Vicki was brought in the room, her demeanor was quiet and withdrawn and she was unceremoniously pushed down into the chair and the phone handed to her.

"Hello?"

Barnabas wished his will had the reach that was needed to take control of her will but the distance was great and he could barely feel her. "Hello my dear Victoria it is I Barnabas, I want you to do something for me."

"I will try Barnabas." Her voice was soft and weak.

"I want you to know that you will be home day after tomorrow and when you come home, that you and I must have a serious conversation about our relationship. I am prepared to take it to the next level if you are over your grief for Burke Devlin." His words had been guarded and held a detached resonance to it while he spoke.

"I. . I would like that very much. I miss you all so much." Her voice had grown distant as well and then he felt a subtle shift as she switched to speaking French. "Mon amour, mon cœur, mon âme, ne vous inquiétez pas, je suis là pour vous et je suis ici pour elle. Elle sera toujours en sécurité aussi longtemps que je peux prendre le contrôle. J'ai ce qu'il vous faut pour faire tourner les tables de ces porcine."

Barnabas smiled, he replied in French. "Ah, mon amour, ma chérie, je t'ai manqué et maintenant vous êtes là pour nous aider. Lorsque nous aurons terminé, je vais attendre que vous m'apporter ce dont j'ai besoin. Afin de vous revoir, de savoir que vous êtes toujours là me réchauffe cœur et mon âme."

Quentin frowned, "What the hell is he saying?" He hissed at Elliott.

Elliott had listened and smiled, " he said, "Ahh my love, my darling, I have missed you and now you are here to help us. When we are done, I will expect you to bring me what I need. To see you again, to know you are still here warms my heart and my soul. ' or words to that effect, he must really love Miss Winters."

Quentin sighed, that meant that Josette had taken control of Vicki's body and was speaking directly to Barnabas. "Yes he does."

Barnabas hung up the phone and turned to smile at the men in the room. "Our ally is in place and has what I need to bring down the House of Dracul, I shall have it in my hands shortly."

"Why were you speaking French to Vicki? I thought she did not know French." Quentin spoke softly.

"Well I know for a fact that Alexandru nor Klaus speak French. So what was said?" Stokes inquired finishing his drink and set the glass down.

"That was not Victoria, she had been possessed by Josette. Josette was speaking French and she said basically, that I was her love, her heart, and her soul, that I should not worry she was there for us and she was there for Vicki. She assured me that Vicki would always be safe as long as she could take control. That she had what I needed to turn the tables on those and she called them swine."

Barnabas sat back and smiled. "Now Quentin I believe it is time our good Professor got to meet Peter Bradford and Dr. Lang. Why don't you take him to the cellar."

Alexandru's castle

Julia rushed towards Klaus as he lifted the syringe and began to inject it into the IV tube that now went into Vicki's body. "What the hell are you doing? What is in that syringe?"

"Sodium Pentothal, we are getting her ready to transport."

"Are you nuts? You are going to undo all the good work we have done in detoxing her. Why now?"

"Because we are going to Portland for the exchange Doctor, now do not interfere or you could find your self in such a condition before we leave."

Julia was heartsick she watched the color leave Vicki's face and she began that long unnatural sleep of a drug induced nature.

"You realize how dangerous this is?" Julia flung her accusations at Klaus while he continued to put Vicki under and into a deeper sleep.

"I realize that you and she are in grave danger and that to interfere would put your own life in jeopardy, now Doctor leave me while I prepare for departure and you should do the same."

Klaus stepped away flinging the syringe into a wastebasket and left Julia with Vicki. Julia rushed to Vicki's side and disconnected the IV tube before any more of the toxic drug could get back into her system.

She began to lightly pat Vicki's face, "Vicki wake up come on we have to get out of here, get up.'

"Sleepy Julia, very sleepy," Vicki's head rolled from the right and then to the left then her chin slumped to her chest and she sat up but had no muscle control to her body, she just hung like a rag doll suspended on a rope.

Julia flung her arm over her shoulder and around her neck and slid her forward and found she was supporting all of Vicki's weight. "Come on Vicki, you have to help me. I need you to try." Julia looked around and saw the window near the rear of the room they were in. Half dragging, half carrying Vicki; Julia put Vicki in the chair and then opened the window, Vicki was aware she needed to help but the drug was taking her strength with every passing second. "Come on Vicki help me." Julia tugged and pulled then leaned Vicki over the open window. With one mighty shove she pushed for all she was worth and watched Vicki slide out the window and landed on the ground in some bushes.

Vicki was aware of her surroundings; she could feel the abrasive sting of the bush as it tore at her sweater and her skirt, and the stocking she wore, then the bite of the rocky ground against her tender hypersensitive skin. She moaned and tried to push herself up on all fours. Julia looked around frantically, grabbed the blanket on the table near the window then she crawled through the window and dropped down next to Vicki. Julia wrapped Vicki in the blanket, then tugged, pulled and dragged her to the nearby cropping of the footpath of the mountains. It was quick for the alert going out and it appeared that a hundred searchlights were sweeping the ground. Julia tugged Vicki deep into the crevasse and waited hoping they would not find them where they hid. All too soon her worst fears were realized as she heard the sounds of the dogs. Apparently they had been brought out to help search. The shouts of the men and the barking of the dogs she knew they were doomed to failure and perhaps had sealed her own death.

The private vault of Alexandru

Josette materialized inside the vault room, she looked at the covered portrait that sat in the corner of the room secured between cradles to hold valuable paintings. On another shelf sat a golden urn and a scripted name that had been carefully preserved was written on the vase. It read '_Phyllis Wicke the light of my life, the reason for my existence, my soul mate_.'

Josette turned to the urn and lifted it and smiled, looking around she saw a valuable Ming vase, and lifting the urn she drifted to the vase and poured the ashes into the Ming Vase. Turning she smiled and manipulating her hands she gathered the castle dust that had accumulated over the years and put it in the urn.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Alexandru's Vault

Gliding on air she turned back to the picture and pulled it out and then pushed back the drape that had hung over the crated frame seeing the portrait she smiled. There it was the hideous form of Alexandru was displayed in all of his gruesome glory, Josette almost giggled but the laughter would have echoed through out the whole castle. She could hear that Alexandru was shouting to find the women but do not harm the young one she was needed for an important event. Josette glanced to the sealed vault door and frown, "Ma Cheri you must stop this monster. Protect our dear Victoria!" Her accent strong and holding the South Indies brogue that marked her from Martinique.

Outside the Castle

Julia pressed her body in front of Vicki who now huddled in near fetal position with the sound of booted feet and the snapping snarling of the dogs drew closer. Julia knew she could not carry Vicki and she was not about to leave her behind at the mercy of that fiend or the quack of a doctor. The snapping jowls of the search dog found their hiding spot and his slavering face with bared teeth appeared at Julia's feet, she heard the voice order them out. "Come out! Show your self or I turn the dog on you!"

"I am coming but I can't bring Miss Winters she is unconscious. Call off your dog." An order to sit and wait was issued to the dog in perfect German and the dog quit his mad dog act and sat with a whine. He glanced up at his handler then he glared anxiously at Julia while she slipped out with bright light of a flashlight blinding her vision. Two men grabbed Julia and jerked her back and out of the way while two more men stepped past Julia and lifted completely unconscious Victoria.

Julia was trussed up with her hands cuffed behind her back, she watched them nervously take Vicki out and threw her over the shoulder of one guard, then she was forced back to the castle. Julia was unceremoniously shoved down onto a seat in the foyer with a rifle rudely poking her in the side. "Do you mind, that is extremely uncomfortable." The two guards that had found Vicki and carried her back to the house walked down the hallway towards a room, and disappeared into the room.

"So Doctor Hoffman you could not leave well enough alone?" Klaus stepped into view followed by the agitated Alexandru.

"Knock her out, she will be sedated until we leave in nine hours, I do not want any more incidents this exchange must be timed to perfection. I must not miss the appearance of the devil's Sabbath moon. Nothing can go wrong with this meeting!" He was more than agitated he was actually nervous and angry.

Julia's eyes widen she watched Klaus leave and then return with a syringe. Julia tried to struggle but trussed up as she was she had no wiggle room to try and pull away from the syringe. As she felt the sharp prick of the needle, Julia cried out, "NOOO!"

She tried to fight the slide into the dark abyss that was unconsciousness she heard the last words uttered by Alexandru, "Now we go to Portland, and I will finally have my beloved back with me."

Klaus stood back and nodded, "Take the doctor to the plane and we will join you shortly." He ordered the Captain of the Guard watching impassively what the men had done.

"Yes sir, anything else?" The captain unlocked the cuffs from behind Julia's back holding her lifeless body with his body he then proceeded to cuff her hands in front of her, and then lifted her awaiting further orders.

"I will want you to come back here and join me in the vault to crate the urn, and then you may take Miss Winters to the plane and see she is safely tucked away in the transport crate.

"Yes Baron." The Captain snapped his heels together turned with Julia slung over his shoulder and disappeared out the front door.

Alexandru watched the Captain leave and then turned and walked to the vault, using his code he entered the vault and stopped in front of the Urn. "So my darling soon, I will have it all. I will have you back with me." He tapped the vase and smiled.

A soft knock at the doorframe of the vault and another guard entered the room. "My lord the witch is here."

"No! No! No! I said she was to be kept on the plane, take her back and make sure she is gagged and secured. Do not let her speak no matter what, now go!" The servant scrambled back and was soon lost from sight.

"Now I will show that Barnabas Collins who owns the night and he will loose his precious Vicki as my sacrifice." Alexandru smiled and then realized what he had said and shot a glance at a stunned Klaus.

"You never said you were going to use the girl as the sacrifice." Klaus was upset and finally realized how much Klaus had duped him into being cooperative with the faintest hope that he could have Victoria as his own experiment after this was over.

"She is the only virgin that is handy dear boy, when we are done I will give you enough money you will be able to buy as many of her kind as you want." Alexandru was now in his placating mode.

"But I do not want another kind I want her, I want to learn how she traveled back in time and was able to return." He was watching his plans slowly disappear no matter the amount of money Alexandru was offering.

"Then when I am done I will buy you as many of those that have claims of traveling in time and bring them to you to play with. This one is going to be my sacrifice and that is that." Alexandru was growing irritated with Klaus. Alexandru walked to the picture and laid his fingers on the draped frame and thrummed them on the surface. Josette watched him anxiously while he toyed with the cover of the portrait. "To think Collins thought he would find this and make me pay." He laughed and began to pull the cover back.

When once again there was another disturbance in the castle. "The sooner we are gone, from this place and headed to Portland the better of we will be." Alexandru growled and straightened the cover over the portrait. Alexandru turned to lift the urn. He lost his balance when he turned he nearly knocked the Ming Vase off the pedestal it set on. Klaus caught the vase as it spun crazily on its stand and then righted. With a soft sigh.

Klaus steadied the vase resetting it in place and then glanced in the vase and then frowned, "You really need to let the maids come in here and dust more often, it must have been decades since this place had a good cleaning." Turning he followed Alexandru out into the hallway.

Alexandru smiled, "Tedious things I shall allow my beloved to attend once we come home and she is my bride."

On board Alexandru's private jet

Vicki was vaguely aware of her surroundings she could hear voices and she knew she was on a plane and they were airborne and she was hopefully headed back to Collinsport. Why did it seem it had been far too long since she left the Collins family. Her addiction was eating at her insides the withdrawals had been horrible, the cramps, diarrhea and the constant throwing up or wanting to throw up. Now she was back in that listless euphoric state she was growing to resent and hate. What was happening to her and her mind, she was seeing things. She was sure she was in the 1700's again. There in front of her was a woman glaring at her with those demanding and angry blue eyes. Vicki moved her gaze over the room and tried to work the gag off of her mouth. In her haze, Vicki could have sworn that blond woman was Angelique, if that were the case where in all of the love of heaven was she? Why was she here and why did she not really seem to care? Struggling against the potent drug she tried to sit up and thought she had but all she had managed was to flop her arm over and dangled it to the floor.

After she had done this a set of caring hands shift her around to right her on her back and cover her. She tried to kick the blanket off and found it was not a blanket but a long white robe that was carefully arranged around her body and tied with a golden cord. She was aware but she had no control over her body or its functions, she was limp and listless. Why could she not do anything? Feel anything? React? It was the drugs she was sure, and a spark of anger ignited in her subconscious and then she heard them the two men that had brought her to this point in her life and taken everything from her. "Now the doctor is secured, and what is this? Why is she in here? She is to be placed in the crate in the hold!" That was the one she had learned was the Baron and he had become a ripe bastard towards her. Of the two men she resented and hated him the most. She never thought she could hate or wish ill will to anyone but she would make an exception for this man.

Klaus sighed, and turned to a large man that had followed them into the plane, "Dieter, take Miss Winters and put her in the crate in the hold and see she has plenty of oxygen and is kept warm by the blankets that are there. We cannot afford to have her damaged before the ceremony."

The large Captain clicked his heels bowed to Klaus and bent to heft Vicki up in both arms and carry her out of the main cabin area, she was aware she was about to be locked in a crate and the inner most part of her did not want this, she hated confined places and that would be worse than being in a prison. Vicki was lowered and tightly covered, Klaus put the lid on and in a last ditch effort she tried to throw her hand up to stop the lid from covering her. "_No! Please_." She thought she had said it but there were no words coming from her mouth as the lid was hammered into place and all she had were air holes and pieces of light that filtered into the top of the crate. She could see broken and disjointed images and she felt the tears slid out of the corner of her eyes and down her cheek into her hair. Death would have been preferable to this.

Drawing on the very last ounce of strength she had, she pushed her hand up and hit the lid, and she found energy to hit it again, and again before she exhausted what was left of her strength. Then she thought she saw it at first a shimmer of white, and an eye was peering though one of the holes, and a child's voice spoke softly. "Do not worry Miss Winters I will not leave you. We will be here to protect you until we get to Portland. You won't be by yourself."

Vicki thought she was going mad, that had to be Sarah's voice that was speaking so sweetly and comfortingly to her. She forced herself to croak out the name, "Sarah?" She saw a tiny finger poke through the hole and wiggle back and forth. Then the eye was back looking at her in another hole only this hole was a little further down.

"Yes Miss Winters I am here and you must sleep and I promise just like you did the night I got really scared and you sat with me, that you would not leave, well I am not going to leave you. Now sleep Miss Winters and soon this all will be over."

Old House Library

Barnabas sighed and sat at his desk, was the meeting truly coming up tomorrow eve, would he finally have Vicki back safely along with Doctor Hoffman? He turned to peer out the window and watched as the sun last rays bid a good bye and allowed the moon to allow its radiance to bath over the land. "This is utterly fascinating dear boy. I cannot begin to tell you how exciting it has been for me to be able to speak from someone from the period my ancestor was from and to know this man was actually cursed to become what he had been for nearly two hundred years!" Professor Stokes was making good with the bottle of Sherry while Barnabas watched him with a look of amused curiosity.

"You are a learned man Elliott Stokes, why should this surprise you? I thought with what we know of the world which is very little this would be just another test or study to write about and exploit."

"Oh do not get me wrong, Mr. Collins, I am not surprised it is just a joy to have my theories and hypothesis to bare fruit and proven beyond a doubt to the skeptics that these things do exist. You have to see my point of view I have taken quiet a lot of hazing over my beliefs and yet here I am still teaching such things at the College."

"I suppose I could appreciate your position but you realize I have no intentions of ever letting Alexandru taking Bradford, I would rather die than let him have anything and when I am done he will be the one that will end tragically."

Elliott pursed his lips, lifted his monocle lifted the bottle of Sherry read the year and then set it down. "Very good year. Well if the situation were reversed and it were he, he would make sure you died the night of the exchange. I would not be surprise if he does not intend to make you watch him kill Miss Winters and then kill you."

"I am counting on him attempting to take my life, then he shall feel the wrath of a Collins as had never been felt before, he will regret ever being born when I am done with him."

"Do you honestly think he will be inclined to turn Doctor Hoffman over to you as well?"

"No." Stated so simplistically it gave Professor Stokes pause. Elliott knew he was dealing with a man that was ruthless and held no emotions over ending a life of someone that had harmed a member of his family or a friend or loved one.

"I see you have thought this out from the very inception to the tragic ending?"

"The only tragedy would be if something happened to any of our party, Doctor Hoffman or Miss Winters. Then he will regret ever being born."

Stokes noted that the tone had dropped to an almost death pall like expression. Stokes was amazed at how Barnabas had spoken with such dispassionate recourse that Stokes knew he never wanted to anger Barnabas or those he loved, they would have the devil to pay. Finishing up his drink he set his glass down. "Well if you will excuse me I believe that Mrs. Stoddard will be serving one of Mrs. Johnson's famous and delicious New England dishes and I do enjoy home cooking I am sure that the very lovely Mrs. Stoddard is a marvel with the skillet and pot. "

Barnabas was coming to believe many things could sway this man easily but top on his list was an excellent brand of Sherry and a good home cooked meal by a woman that would doted on one if they paid them enough compliments. He watched Professor Stokes as he left the room. The room began to feel cooler and the very air filled with the familiar sweet scent that would have drove Barnabas mad with desire and happiness. "Josette?" He spoke to the very air and rose stepping to the corner that had held the strongest scent, a ruffling of papers on his desk made him aware of movement by his desk and he spun around and stopped laying in the center of the desk was a rolled canvass.

Stepping forward he looked down at the rolled canvass and then around the room. With fingers that threatened to tremble he reached for the object and slowly unrolled it just a bit and smiled. He heard a door opened and Barnabas turned and walked to the bookcase on the wall, removing two books he found the release and pressed, the catch and the door slid open on silent hinges. Stepping into the secret room he carefully placed the canvass on a table that stood in the center of the room. "Now let the games begin."

Exiting the secret room he shut the door by pressing it closed. He felt the pressure in the room change and Quentin entered the room, he watched Barnabas at the bookcase, he appeared to be replacing a book and smiled. "So my people tell me they have taken off and will be here on time. Do you have everything in place?"

Barnabas turned and smiled, "Yes, but what I am about to tell you I feel you will wish to argue with me. After we deliver Bradford to the location of the sacrificial sight, you must come back to Stokes's classroom and wait for us there."

Quentin frowned, "Now see here Barnabas I am sure he is not going to be alone and you will need all the help you can muster and as we have to be so secretive why are you sending me away?"

Barnabas turned walked to his desk, "I have my reasons Quentin, you will be needed there to protect Miss Winters and Doctor Hoffman should I fail to stop the ceremony."

"You think you are going to keep him from having her on that alter before you even enter that clearing?"

"No she will be rescued from the alter and she will need to be protected along with the good doctor."

"I don't agree but I will do as I am told. I hope you don't live to regret it."

"Quentin, in my brief life outside that coffin, I have learned to regret many things, but of this I am sure that I will be fine and you will need to be the hero for the ladies. Now, we must prepare for the arrival of our long lost and beloved member of the family."

Quentin smiled, "It is long over due. Was Willie successful in getting the ankh?"

"Yes, I have it in my desk drawer, and the words to complete the spell has been given over to Alexandru. I fear though he is about to have a very nasty day coming up."

Quentin walked to the sideboard a smile playing on his lips while he poured a rather substantial drink; swallowing it he coughed from the burn of the going down. "That is some smooth brandy." He coughed and then he paused and looked around. He could smell it. It lingered like a smell to something old and well used. "Do I smell jasmine?"

Barnabas smiled and nodded, "Yes you smell jasmine and yes she was here earlier. I believe you are wanted for dinner back at Collinwood cousin, I think Mrs. Stoddard is cooking New England style tonight."

"Not really hungry she cooks New England style every night and it is getting old. I think I will be going into Collinsport for a drink and maybe dinner at the Blue Whale, I will see you later?"

Barnabas nodded slowly, "I would think you would like to be here when Stokes questions Bradford again. He is getting so tiresome with his many attempts of trying to escape and if I did not need him, I would have drove a stake in his heart long before now."

"Hmm Steak sounds good, maybe I will go to the Collinsport Inn and have a steak dinner."

Barnabas smiled, "You have a unique turn of a phrase cousin, then later and I await to hear from Alexandru's man that he has left although something tells me and you have been previously informed has left but I was told I would get confirmation and with him playing his little games, I figured he would wait until they were gone for a good three hours before I would be notified. He thinks it will give him the advantage and I am here to say he has lost."

Quentin swallowed the rest of his drink coughed then laughed. "You know I would not like to see you really pissed off Barnabas, I have a feeling that whomever gets on your dark side does not fare very well and never will."

Barnabas walked to the chessboard and lifted the black rook and placed it near the white Bishop then captured the Bishop. "You would be correct, the one thing I learned out of all my life was that you never leave your king or the queen unprotected. It is a bad move either way."

He turned and smiled while he studied the tall handsome man in front of him. "If you care about your queen you always protect her. For me, I allowed time to come between my queen and I and I can assure you from this point forward it will never happen again."

The old house

Barnabas studied Willie handing him the shotgun. Willie was more afraid of the mood and manner he saw than he had ever seen before. Never has such loathing and hatred been present in the vampire as it was now. His voice had slipped to a barely audible decibel and he shot a cold look at Willie. "Do not mess this up, or you will regret it Willie. I am; against my better judgment, depending on you to do what you have been instructed. I need to know you can do it."

"Yah, yah, yah sure I can do it, if it means we get Vicki back I can do it Barnabas I promise." Willie was nervous but he was more afraid of mucking this up than actually following through with the trust that had been handed over to him.

"I don't want promises Willie, I want it done. Just do it. Now I will see you at the sight in one hour is that clear?" There it was that controlled cool soft voice that reminded Willie of the call of death.

"Yah sure Barnabas, you don't think she is dead do ya?" Willie's eyes held tenderness to them that Barnabas had always thought was weakness until now when he realized Willie was being eaten alive by his guilt. That no matter how many beatings he would have gotten nothing would hurt him more than the thought he had caused this to happen to Vicki.

"We will correct the wrong together Willie." Barnabas reached for his jacket, and cane. Turning he nodded to Quentin. "You will bring Bradford to the alter site as I have dictated, after they have taken control of Bradford, you will leave us. If I know this psychotic fool at all he will not have Dr. Hoffman at the location he plans to do the sacrifice he will have her held somewhere nearby as a means for control over us."

"Barnabas are you sure you don't need me to stay with you?" Quentin was still dubious of his plan. He wanted to be there to watch Klaus and Alexandru get their just rewards and he wished he knew what it was that Barnabas had planned when he said he was going to watch Alexandru die.

"I am positive, I want to make sure that once we free Miss Winters and Doctor Hoffman I want to know they are safe before I kill him. Do you not agree this is better in the long run? That I know you will secure their well-being and good health if you are present for them?" Quentin hated to admit it but he had it planned out from the beginning to the end. "We all have our pawns to use up and our knights for rescue, you Quentin are my knight and hopefully Julia's and Vicki's knight in shining armor. Now, gentlemen, I am going to Collinwood to visit Elizabeth and let her know what has been transpiring since Vicki's absence."

"Is that wise Barnabas will she not want to try and help?" Barnabas shifted in his great coat, flipped his collar up and frowned.

"I am hoping she will allow me to use my good judgment on retrieving her and not interfere should she try then I will simply lock her in her room. That way she won't know where we are going to bring home her da. . . missing governess." He had caught himself and then looked down. "We have a lot at stake tonight let us hope it goes as I plan."

"What about our other help?" Quentin smiled he thought of the reactions of the others when Josette and Sarah showed up to bring about this part of their plan.

"They are already in place. Now excuse me and be prepared in one hour we leave."

Collinwood

Barnabas walked the well-trodden path to Collinwood, his mind was set and his actions directed by his need to save those whose lives had been placed in peril. "_Ma chéri, I am here, she is safe for now, I am sorry I cannot take this walk with you as you go to Collinwood_."

Barnabas smiled hearing her voice, he sighed and responded as he thought a moment of the past and those sweet passion filled nights they had spent together. "_Thank you my darling Josette, you have no idea how comforted I am knowing you are with me on this journey. Oh how I miss you my amour." _

"_Just realize this my precious Barnabas, time may pass but my love for you will never truly die. If I am not there, then you must find someone that can fill the void of my death in your heart. Do not look for pale comparisons and settle, find true love for yourself and allow me to be free of this burden I carry." _

"_But that burden is part of the curse that taints Collinwood my sweet love. How can I free you if I do not know how to break this curse."_

"_In due time the curse will be broken my love. Until then know I am here for you always."_


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Outside Collinwood

The area around him that had been filled with the scent of jasmine was now filled with the dry rot and humus smell that most woods had after being alive for several hundred years from the trees that shed their outer or decaying particles. He sighed at least he had these few precious moments to hold onto and now he had to consider what was Vicki to him.

Was she as Josette said a pale comparison to her his forever love? Or was she something new with a promise of exciting tomorrows? He would have to think long and hard on this subject considering that at the moment her very life was in balance and being held by a psychotic killer. He walked up to the front doors of Collinwood, tucked his tie in, straightened his coat, and took a deep breath; that is if he had been alive. However, this action was used to calm his thoughts and prepare him for what he knew would be a very uncomfortable interview with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was the one member of this family, other than Vicki, that he would have preferred never to distress. Looking into her eyes he was reminded of his mother. The times she had looked at him with disappointment written on her face. However, the woman always loved him and that was what killed her. Did he dare encourage Vicki knowing that to love him would ultimately cause her death? He had so much to consider and this night was going to be full of the resolutions to his problems or he had hoped. Having calmed him self with his deep inhale and quick exhale he raised his hand and knocked. He could hear the evening activities of the house through the door, then he heard Mrs. Johnson shout, "I will get it Mrs. Stoddard you just stay still."

Collinwood Drawing Room

Sarah Johnson toddled to the door and opened it to smile invitingly to their neighbor and her employer's cousin. "Oh Mr. Collins please, please come in. Mrs. Stoddard is in the drawing room, here let me have your jacket and cane."

She helped him remove his coat and he shook his head when she went to take his cane. "Please Mrs. Jonson I would prefer to keep the cane."

"Oh well very well, let me tell Mrs. Stoddard you are here." She turned putting her hand to her throat, the man always had an affect on her it was those hypnotic brooding eyes that almost pierced the soul and took her breath away. She paused and knocked on the closed drawing room doors. "Mrs. Stoddard, Mr. Barnabas Collins is here to see you."

Elizabeth had been sitting on the sofa reading when the knock came she slid forward and half turned smiled, "Please show him in." Mrs. Johnson stood aside and allowed Barnabas to enter, Elizabeth stood and extended her hand. "Barnabas what a pleasant surprise. Won't you please come in."

Barnabas stepped to her, took her hand and kissed it. He waited as she reseated her self and then he stepped to the other side and sat next to her. "Elizabeth I fear I have been keeping a secret from you and I feel it is time you were made aware of certain events that have occurred."

Elizabeth's smile froze and she clasped her hands to her lap. She had a feeling that her world was off balanced and that it was about to fall apart. It had begun with the unexpected and quick departure of Vicki and the fact she had not been in touch. Elizabeth felt it was Vicki's need to mend her grief and sorrow over the loss of Burke and respected her need for privacy. But now with this announcement she was worried. "What is it Barnabas and please do not feel you must stand on ceremony and hold back with what you are about to say, I can take it." She looked down felt her throat constrict and before he could speak she spoke with chin tucked and eyes set on her hands, "It is about Vicki isn't it? She is dead." The finality of that statement hit Barnabas like a sucker punch to his gut.

He reached for her hands and held them with his cold ones and spoke softly, "Yes, it is about Vicki, and I certainly hope she is not dead, that is at this time she is in mortal danger and could easily die this night if my plans go horribly awry."

Elizabeth glanced up and held his eyes with her own they clouded over with unshed tears that were forming. "What, what has happened?"

Barnabas began to detail the whole sordid situation for Elizabeth leaving out very little, he carefully avoided he was holding a vampire captive and had negotiated for her release by agreeing to turn this vampire over to the very people that held her daughter. He avoided the fact that Julia was now being held as well and could possibly die with Vicki this night.

When he finished the story he watched her pull her hands away from his hands and walked to the French windows to peer out over the front courtyard. "I really want to come with you Barnabas, surely there is something I can do other than stay here and wait and worry."

Barnabas stood tucked his tie in, straighten his cuffs and walked to Elizabeth to stand by her. Placing hands of comfort on her shoulders. "No Elizabeth, I want you to trust me to do what is right and to bring Vicki home. These negotiations have been going on now for over three weeks. I cannot afford to have outside interference or she could die. Do you understand?" He turned to peer deep into her eyes and as he did he used his hypnotic and telepathic powers to waver her will and take it over.

"_Now when I leave here, I want you to go to your room and take a nap Elizabeth, you will awaken in three hours and hopefully we will have Vicki home safe and sound. Do you understand?"_

Elizabeth was held and mesmerized by his gaze nodded pulled away from him walked to the grand staircase. Barnabas followed her to the front foyer and watched her disappear up the stairs to the landing and into the family's private sleeping area. Mrs. Johnson had come out and paused.

"Mrs. Stoddard? Mrs. Stoddard? When do you wish supper served tonight?" She watched the woman who was normally attentive to her needs kept going as if she had not heard her.

"Mrs. Johnson, Elizabeth is feeling a headache and is going to lie down, so I am sure that supper can wait until later when she arises."

Mrs. Johnson started fussing while she moved about taking her dishcloth and swiping at imaginary dust. "Just like this family to keep me waiting most the night before they are ready to do anything. The least she could have done was told me she was not feeling well and I would not have started dinner."

Barnabas turned and caught the disgruntled look of Mrs. Johnson and was immediately reminded of his sour faced Aunt Abigail. "Mrs. Johnson I want you to look into my eyes." Sarah Johnson was reluctant to look up into the eyes of a man that already unsettled her, but she felt compelled to do so. When she looked into his eyes, once again he used his will to take over her will. "_YOU will go to the kitchen shut off the dinner and you are tired, you want to lay down too and take a small nap, when you awaken you will feel better and know that you had a headache and needed the rest."_

His words had echoed through her mind she held her dishcloth close turned and walked from the room. Barnabas turned picked up his coat, slipped it on and walked towards the front door, pulling the collar up he opened the door and frowned. He did not like doing what he just did but they left him no choice. He would make it up to them someday but for now he did not need any distractions.

Old House

Barnabas walked down the hallway towards the cell that held Peter Bradford. Since his deterioration to the human side of his nature he had been more pliable and less cunning. However he still held a great hatred for Barnabas. Though he tried to be civil to acquire certain privileges. Barnabas stood on the other side of the door that was Peter's cell.

"Bradford, do you know what you are suppose to do?" Peter had been sitting on the edge of the cot, bent over, hands folded studying the floor and not wishing to look at the door, for over the top was a silver cross.

"You know Barnabas you are taking a huge risk with me. What if at the last minute I decide not to go through with this for you?" He had spoken with all the venom and hatred he had stored up for the past nearly two hundred years and here it was at a moment in time that Barnabas needed him.

"It matters not to me Bradford, either way you will be dead. You do realize that cooperating with me gives you the chance to get away and go on to find your Phyllis in this lifetime. To go against me or betray me only affords you death, it is really your choice."

Bradford shot up from the bench saw the cross and backed away to the corner and looked down. "You are so quick to end a life and you called me a monster?"

"I would have at one time called you friend or brother Peter, you ended that the night you made me into this thing I hate and deplore from the very core of my being. You did this Peter, no other but you. I would have welcomed you into my life and given you the privileges that you so richly deserved as my friend. But you chose to make me into this."

"No Barnabas you are the one that started the affair with that she bitch, you are the one that told me to help you out and I did and this is how I am repaid by becoming something that would eventually destroy the one and only woman I ever loved."

"You had a choice Peter, I asked you to distract her not bed her. She fell in love with you and she blames me for taking you away from her, so she paid us both back. I did not want to harm Phyllis, I wanted her to be happy and away from Trask that is why I killed him and buried him in the foundation of this very home."

Peter heard this and his eyes crept up to where Barnabas stood and then he saw the cross and dropped his eyes. "So that is what happened to him?"

"Yes, he was torturing your Phyllis the night I found her wandering on the beach. I was going to bring her home, but I was compelled by a force beyond my control to pay you back for what you were doing to Josette."

Something rang true to his words and for a moment his hatred for this man that stood at that door, was diminishing. "You see Angelique is behind all of this. Her curse was that neither of us would be loved or love. So tonight when we are at the alter and you look upon the innocent and tortured face of Victoria Winters you think of Phyllis and what she went through and whether or not any humanity remains in your heart for an innocent."

Barnabas turned to leave when he heard Peter call him, his voice was soft and contemplative, "If I cooperate you will let me leave?" Barnabas played with his fingers looking at them then peered up every fiber of his being rebelled against his decision and he wanted the man to die but he knew that would be wrong so he spoke softly knowing.

"Yes."

That was the only answer Peter wanted to hear and he smiled. "We will see once we get there how I feel." Peter stepped back to the cot and sat down, he was tired and he was feeling as he once had as a human a feeling he had forgotten he had possessed and he frowned, what was this feeling?

Remorse?" He spoke out loud sitting back averting his gaze from over the doorway.

Barnabas made his way up the stairs and to the coat rack, pulling on his coat again he turned and looked at the men that stood there. Trask had already been dispatched to watch for the plane's arrival and had reported seeing it land. Quentin, Willie, Professor Stokes stood looking at each other and the men were apprehensive by the smell of their heightened pheromones and sweaty palms. "Gentlemen, destiny calls." Barnabas turned and walked out of the door.

Willie checked the shotgun one more time, patted his coat for the shells and followed behind Barnabas, Stokes waited while Quentin went to the basement to bring up Bradford wrapped in silver chains that were held together by a silver lock. Stokes waited for Quentin and Bradford to leave before following and closing the door. Peter paused and inhaled the scent of the night into his lungs, he had not breathed at this time, but he could enjoy the scent of freedom and it was just a short time away.

Portland the exchange area

Barnabas moved forward his body turning to mist and then bat form and he took off headed for the location he knew would ultimately lead to his return of Vicki or the death of them all. His night vision was attuned to the events of the night; in a house a child cried for his mother, in another house a man and a woman argued over finances, he continued to push forward he could hear the sound of laughter, shrill and high pitched as a woman was teasing her lover and there was something familiar about that laugh but he put aside the thought and focused on his destination.

He circled over head he could see the area where the drama would unfold was vacant at this time so he navigated to a tree and reformed to walk and stand in front of the alter. As far as altars were concerned this one was a slab on two huge rocks with a backdrop of two large boulders that held ancient writings that had been weathered with time. Barnabas stepped around the boulders and surmised this would be a grand place for Willie to hide with the shotgun. Walking around the perimeter he frowned as he heard voices in the distance and then his suspicions were confirmed, they would be here and not in the class room as proposed, so Alexandru was already changing the plans and tactics. It did not matter a nasty smile of satisfaction covered his handsome face. Barnabas was not going to play by the rules either. He hoped though Willie would have enough sense to know to use a path to the back of the crudely made alter area and to make sure he knew there were others there he contacted Willie telepathically.

"W_illie, they are coming here early, there are two large boulders behind the alter, a path leads from the east to those boulders take that pathway and wait for my cue and for the sake of Miss Winter do not mess this up!"_

Willie shook his head hearing Barnabas' seductively soft voice entered his mind and he closed his eyes for a moment at the oncoming lights that momentarily blinded him. He had not meant to look into the lights but to the side of the roadway. The bastard had his brights on and now Willie had dots in front of him but still managed to stay on the road with his truck. Quentin, Bradford and Stokes were in the car behind him and he looked down when Quinton flashed his lights at the asshole that did not dim his lights.

"_Did you hear me Willie?"_ His voice held a hint of irritation and Willie was quick to snap back and then regretted it when he heard the tenure of the voice that responded.

"_Yeah, Damnit I heard you. Do you realize there are assholes out tonight that don't dim their friggin lights?"_

"_Who are you referencing as an asshole Willie? Pay attention a lot of lives are depending on you and your competency to execute duties and responsibly. I know that is hard for you to comprehend as assholes seem to be more important."_

"_Well you don't drive so you don't know what its like to have your eyes blinded by some inconsiderate prick."_ Willie felt justified in responding to his tone because he did not drive and could have any idea how annoying bright lights could be on a back road in pitch black. Then he knew he might have gone too far for to him the worse fear in the world was the fear of hearing nothing and that was what greeted him now. There was silence and then Willie figured he had gone way to far to argue with him. Chewing on his bottom lip Willie watched the roadway and was more alert, he wanted to be the last reason in the world for Miss Winters to be hurt tonight and he was not about to let someone else stop him from doing such a thing.

Barnabas was irritated with Willie's insubordination but would deal with it later after this whole affair had been resolved. He would give the professor and Quentin time to get to the classroom, which was designed with stadium seating, although small it was a good layout for Quentin to manage things from his end. 

Professor Stokes Class Room

There were two aisle that started on a ground floor and steps that lead down through nine rows of seats with long tables in a curve to accommodate the room. The chairs were ten to a row in the center with four to a row on either side. It could accommodate a large class but was designed to allow the speaker to stand in front of his desk or go to a blackboard to write and his words could be projected up and out so all could hear what he had to say. The modern history class was usually full but the occult class had a waiting list. It seemed that today's youth was interested in other outlooks and interests than the dry facts that history offered. It did not mean that they were interested in worshiping Beelzebub, it meant they were curious to whether or not such a being existed. Plus they all were hoping that something special about them would come to light and they would discovered they had another talent other than partying, drinking and absorbing knowledge so they could get a good job to work themselves to death.

In other words they were looking for alternatives to get out of the later part of what they knew would be responsibility once they graduated from school and began their lives in this big cold heartless world. Barnabas did not blame them but knew in the long run they would be happier if they just did as they were suppose to do, find love, get married, have children, work hard and die. Something he would have gladly traded with them a long time ago. While he waited he wondered if Lang and Hoffman would make him human without making him into a nearly two hundred year old walking desiccated corpse. Without little else to occupy his mind he waited and he wondered where this path would take him.

Four hours earlier On Board the Plane

Josette appeared in the hold of the plane, "My sweet little one it is time." She whispered to Sarah, as she lay on top of the crate that held Vicki, Sarah sat up and smiled, then peered into the crate and saw that Vicki slept. Stretching her tiny body out on top of the crate she closed her eyes and floated down into the crate and into Vicki's body. Vicki's eyes opened and she put her hands up on the lid and pushed. The first time it was hard and the lid refused to give. Josette floated to the crate and studied the lid and saw the problem; they had sealed the lid shut. Looking at the metal snaps they began to open one at a time until all eight were unsnapped. "Try now mon chéri." Once again Vicki's arms bent and her hands went flat on the lid as she pushed the lid open, she sat up and smiled. "I will hide." Her voice was Vicki's but her words were Sarah's. Josette nodded and returned her smile.

"They are dropping so they will be landing soon, go and hide." Josette watched the young woman known as Vicki but now controlled by Sarah peer around the hold and saw a pile of packing cargo blankets thrown in the corner. Stepping to the blankets she began to pull them over her and was soon hidden except for a small peek hole she made to watch.

Josette floated to the crate, shimmered and became the image of Vicki, she crawled in and lay down in the crate and then manipulated the lid closed and with the use of her supernatural abilities she snapped the lid shut and waited. The landing was a bit rough because the runway was shorter than realized the plane set down the pilot had to brake harder to bring the large plane to a stop and then ride it to a nearby hanger. The engine shut down and the stairs were lowered, Sarah watched three men enter the cargo bay and pulled the crate out.

"Take her to the alter, drape this over her." Dieter handed one of the men a white cheesecloth sheet. The man clicked his heels, bowed to his captain and then took the sheet. Dieter turned watching them retrieve Vicki. They wrapped her in the cheesecloth and carried her from the plane. Turning Dieter walked back into the main cabin where he grabbed Angelique by the arm and dragged her up. "Come witch it is time!"

Angelique had worked the gag loose and spoke with all the venom and anger she could muster, "You will surely die before this night is out and I will deliver the blow." She laughed and it was a low and seductive laugh.

The laugh was cut off as Dieter gagged her and spoke roughly. "Shut up bitch." He jerked her to the door and down the steps into a dark sedan. Shoving her into the van he got in her face. "The only one dying tonight will be the virgin and you bitch. So shut up." Just to make sure she did not annoy him further Dieter sucker punched her in the face and watched her eyes fluttered and she fell unconscious. "No drugs were needed." He muttered stepping back and out of the car and walking to the plane. Lifting Julia from her seat. "The perfect companion quiet with no mouth."

Dieter lifted the slender doctor's form and carried her to the other dark sedan. The sedan that held Vicki drove off into the direction to the east of town and the designated spot that was to be the sight of the sacrifice. Dieter felt a chill run down his back turning to peer up at the moon he watched a dark shadow passed over the red moon above. The moon had not quite met her zenith but soon she would and then this whole sordid mess would be over.

Alexandru was practically giddy so self-assured that all was going according to his orchestrated plans. He practically giggled at the success he was enjoying patting the golden clay urn that held his beloved. "Soon my sweet Phyllis, soon you will be with me once again and we will live an eternity of love, light and happiness." He spoke lovingly to the urn as their cars headed to the location of sacrificial alter.

"We have everything we need?" Dieter looked for confirmation to the doctor for an affirmative.

Klaus nodded and sat back and for a moment he had feelings of regrets for what was about to happen to the dark haired woman that had somehow gotten to him in her time of confinement. "Yes, I have the knife, all we need is the ankh. Will Judah be there?"

"I do not question him, he is his own power unto himself, but he wants Angelique very badly so I would think he would be there. When we arrive we will know."

Cargo hold of plane

Sarah watched the activity around the plane subside and she stood up dropping the blankets from the form she had assumed. "Stay with me Miss Winters, we will find Professor Stokes." Slipping from the cargo hold and using the stealth of her youth and knowledge of how not to be spotted, Sarah headed out of the hanger and then began to walk towards the town's outskirt.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Near the College in Portland

Moving through the woods with one location in mind, Sarah pushed Vicki's body, oft times catching her hair with low lying tree branches, the crunch of the decaying pine needles on the floor of the woods and the hint of an impending storm in the air, she trudged forward until she saw the object of her destination in sight, and then she paused and a slight smile played over her lips.

Professor Stokes' classroom

Dieter sat on the corner of the desk when Quentin entered pulling Bradford with him. Quentin withdrew with Bradford and placed him against the wall, "Not until we know where Julia and Vicki are."

Stokes stepped to Dieter, who said nothing just handed him the map to the location of the sacrifice. "There you must come there to get the doctor and the girl."

Dieter left the map on Elliott's desk and frowned watching the Professor reach for the map he glanced up to watch Dieter leave the room. Quentin entered further into the room and looked around then shoved Peter into a chair. "It is as Barnabas thought?" Stokes nodded.

"Well then I guess I go to the location. Come on Bradford we have a fate to determine." Quentin pulled him up and out of the door. When Quentin disappeared, Sarah in Vicki's body began her long walked towards the classroom.

Leviathan's Alter

Quentin followed the path and arrived as Barnabas silently stepped out from the darkening shadows next to Quentin. Turning he queried, "You ready?" Quentin had murmured his question under his breath. Watching Barnabas nod.

Barnabas stepped into the shaft of moonlight that perfectly outlined his figure. "ALEXNDRU MIRCEA! I BARNABAS COLLINS HAVE ARRIVED!" His words strong and loud he walked almost appearing to look like he had appeared out of the shadows to within five feet of the alter.

Alexandru and Klaus were both dressed in black robes with red sashes and they shifted into view to stand in front of the supine figure that lay draped in a pure white cheesecloth blanket. "I see you Collins, where is Bradford?"

Barnabas turned and nodded to Quentin. Seeing the signal Quentin pulled Bradford into view. Alexandru called to the shadows, "Judah Zachary! I have what you seek. Show yourself!" Dieter stepped into view with the now wide-eyed struggling Angelique.

From the blackness that was shadow and the smell of death a figure formed and Judah Zachary speared. The figure with glowing red eyes, eyes that almost gave the impression they could pierce the night to alight on the beautiful woman now struggling against her captor's hold. "Remove her gag." Judah's voice was as cold as the grave from which he must have materialized. He stepped forward to look from Angelique to Alexandru. His smile was far from one of delight, if anything it was a triumphant smile denoting he felt he would now be victorious.

Dieter removed the gag and then flung Angelique at Judah's feet. Judah bent and pulled Angelique up and peered into her wide eyes. She gasped out in fear ."I had no choice! I had to testify Judah! They lied and said they would not kill you that they would let you live!" Judah shoved Angelique to a Thornberry tree and pushed her into the tree still bound. Watching Angelique finally delivered her comeuppance both Barnabas and Peter hid their own delight at her agony. They watched and waited.

"Enough of your lies woman! Silence!" He stood back and smiled, his eyes glowing with an intensity of self-satisfaction. "Now Angelique confess your sins to this man, this man whom you said you loved, this man who has made you a part of your own curse, confess to him the full of what you have done!"

Angelique pleaded with her gaze she searched for the now bound Peter Bradford who had been handed over by Quentin. Upon the exchange to Dieter, Barnabas nodded to Quentin and he slipped from sight and headed back to the classroom where Elliott awaited them. Angelique's eyes were wide with fear and she continued to plead with her dark lord Judah. "Tell him so he truly understands what you have done for the name of love." Judah said the word love with as much mockery and disdain as he could muster.

Angelique's lip quivered and then she lowered her eyes, "I cast the curse on you Peter Bradford. I am the one that cursed you to never love or never know love that any that loved you would die. Then I sent you to Josette, knowing Barnabas would find out what you had done. Barnabas did not want to hurt Phyllis though he had every right to hate you he did not want to hurt his sister's governess, and then I took possession of him and made him take your precious Phyllis. I forced him to drain her life and throw her away in the surf. I knew you would find her and then you would feel the pain I had felt when you tossed me away. It was all me!"

Alexandru narrowed his eyes on Barnabas, this was nothing he knew or had heard before now. His own plans were made to hurt Barnabas and teach him a lesson for being such an upstart and a general pain in his ass. Now he was going to enjoy watching the man die. His slid his gaze to Peter Bradford to see what his reaction to this news was going to show him.

Peter looked at her with shear disgust while she cried, screamed and then pleaded her confession. This did give him pause and made him believe this time she was not just taunting him as he had thought when she had told him this earlier. He now had to believe she was responsible and that Barnabas had no control over what he had done just as he knew in his heart he had not wanted to take Josette for his eternal bride.

Judah's face twisted into a smile and then he nodded, "Now you become a victim of your own curse, you are now banished to the void with no beginning and no end. Be gone and from my sight." With a wave of his hand, her gown, and the tree she had been bound was engulfed in flames but the only thing that seemed to burn was Angelique. She screamed out in pain while the flames licked up and around her body to engulf her and she was gone from sight with the last echoing scream that filled this night.

Alexandru postured himself next to Klaus who stood with the silver knife in his hand, "Now full fill your bargain!" Judah turned those red glowing eyes upon the self-imposed dictator on the make shift alter and his lip curled into a sneer.

"It is you that should bow to me mortal. You do not dictate to me I make my own decision, have your sacrifice and see what happens." Judah faded from view with a wisp of wind and the sound of low thunder vibrating the ground they stood on.

Professor Stokes classroom

Vicki watched Quentin enter the Professors classroom and then she followed staggering into the room behind Quentin, her eyes filled with confusion she spoke softly "Julia is in the supply closet." Then Vicki's eyes fluttered and she collapsed to the floor. Quentin and Professor Stokes were both astonished to see the young woman enter and then collapse after making such a dramatic announcement. Quentin stooped down to scoop up Vicki and carry her to the nearest table and carefully laid her on the table.

Elliott had turned to the supply closet and opened it to find an unconscious Julia bound and gagged lying on the floor. "Quentin dear boy come help me hurry. I cannot tell if she is breathing."

Quentin brushed the hair from Vicki's face and hurried to help Professor Stokes by lifting Julia from the closet floor and carrying her to another table. "Is she breathing?" Professor Stokes asked with a degree of anxiety. He watched Quentin untie her hands and saw he was having trouble freeing her hands. While Professor Stokes worked on the bonds that held her hands, Quentin shifted his hands to her gag,

"I think so lets get her gag off and untie her." Both men worked feverishly to free Julia while they were occupied with the bonds and gag, the figure of Sarah sat up from Vicki's body and then floated to the center of the room. She stood and watched them for a moment then she spoke,

"She is ok just been given some drugs. Hello I am Sarah." She smiled her innocent smile and crawled up on one of the tables and sat then began to swing her legs. With the practicality that was Sarah she spoke all knowingly, "She will be waking up soon. Just let her be for now while we wait."

Professor Stokes smiled seeing the little girl and turned more fully to peer at her, "So you were the one in Vicki that was manipulating her to come here?"

"Yes."

"And who is or what is pretending to be Vicki?"

"Josette."

Stokes chuckled and shook his head. "Brilliant."

Quentin laughed, "Barnabas had it set right from the very beginning."

Leviathan Alter

In the glade on the sacrificial alter; Klaus to torment Barnabas removed the cheesecloth to show him Vicki's features. Barnabas never let his gaze go from Klaus or the knife he had laid at Vicki's head. Alexandru was the first to gloat and disclose his plan. "Tonight Barnabas Collins, you will see your beloved Victoria succumb to the curse that the witch placed on you both so long ago. The woman that you love, will die and in her death she will bring me the woman that you, Bradford loved. The very same woman that I loved and will now have and hold as my own eternal mate" He had turned to stare with hatred towards Peter who was being held by Dieter.

The two men laughed then Klaus opened the book to the pages that had been marked with a ribbon. Alexandru reached to the ground lifted the urn and looked at Barnabas. "The ankh?" Barnabas frowned.

"Why should I give you something when you break your word and give me nothing in return. You are a man of little honor, you send your assassin to kill me and then you expect me to give you what you want and have me watch you kill Miss Winters?"

Dieter shoved Peter to stand next to Barnabas. "Give him the ankh Barnabas." Peter said through clenched teeth the silver chains becoming unbearable against his skin.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, give him the ankh."

Barnabas reached into his cloak and pulled out the symbol and handed it to Dieter. Both men watched when Dieter left Peter next to Barnabas and turned to hand the ankh to Alexandru. When the moon shifted to the zenith and the night was illuminated by an errant streak of lightening, Klaus began to chant in dark tones of mystical magic he raised the knife and shouted, "I give you this sacrifice!"

Barnabas screamed out "NO!" watching the knife plummeted into the form that appeared to be Vicki. Then to the surprise of both men, the draped figure was formless and flat as the tip of the blade struck the granite alter and chipped the tip off. It was happening so quickly.

The discovery they did not have the sacrificial virgin nor did they expect Barnabas to shout. "NOW WILLIE!" Willie Loomis stepped out from behind the boulders with his shotgun aimed right at Klaus.

"Drop the knife you piece of shit!" His eyes had narrowed and he had taken on a demonic look with his eyebrows knitted together his eyes narrowed and his face screwed into a maniacal grin.

Alexandru moaned out, "Judah you promised! You promised!"

Professor Stokes classroom

Back in the classroom both men worked on freeing Julia. Sarah watched Judah Zachary appeared and spoke, "What was taken shall be returned!"

Vicki's body shimmered from view and appeared now lying helpless and in plain view on the Alter. With the appearance of Vicki's body, Alexandru put the urn next to her feet, Klaus had laid the knife on the alter and then lunged at Willie trying to wrestle the gun away. The barrel was twisted from Willie's grasp and with the tug of war on the gun Willie pulled the trigger and Dieter was hit by the shot and collapsed, Klaus wrestled the rifle away from Willie and hit him with the butt end, before throwing the gun into the bushes.

Barnabas seeing that his plan was suddenly going to hell in a handmaid's basket, harshly shouted, "Nooo!" He rushed forward with such quickness that neither Klaus nor Alexandru saw from where he had come; with a swing of his cane he had knocked Klaus back against the large boulder to land with a sickening thud on the ground and the flow of blood from his open wound the cane had caused on his forehead. Alexandru had grabbed the knife and was preparing to drive it into the unconscious form of Vicki, when Willie seeing what he was going to do, threw himself over her body and prepared closing his eyes he tensed waiting for the feel of the blade as it descended into his back.

Barnabas was now aware of what Alexandru was trying to do, and he swung his cane back catching the urn with the head and shattering it sending the dust into a shower around the alter. Barnabas seeing the distraction did not work, then began to summon and control the weather.

"WIND! WIND! BRING ME THE WIND!" The area round them began to howl with the summoning of the wind and the dust that was in the urn began to blow away from the make shift alter. Alexandru watching his love blow away turned, grabbed the knife and drove it towards Vicki and Willie, Barnabas threw himself in the way of the blade so that the blade struck him with a hiss and was buried deep into his scapula.

Barnabas stood up and smiled, the pain nearly forgotten he pulled the knife from his back and glared at Alexandru. "YOU MISSED!"

Willie seeing that Barnabas now had Alexandru occupied, scooped Vicki up and took off at a run with her. Peter smelling the scent of blood from Dieter and Klaus licked his lips and his eyes glowed. "Now Bradford, do what you will."

Peter smiled and rushed pell-mell towards Barnabas, who took his cane and slammed it into the chains breaking the lock and the chains fell away to leave him free. Alexandru reached into his pocket and pulled out a small caliber weapon. "You will interfere no more! You will die!" Alexandru emptied the clip into Barnabas and as a last ditch effort threw the gun at Barnabas who batted it away with his cane. "Why won't you die?"

Old House library

Barnabas smiled and his fangs were visible. "Because you insufferable ass, I am already dead!" Barnabas reached over and grabbed the man by the collar and threw him on the make shift alter and Barnabas shouted for his voice to carry over the miles to a room in the old house where Josette stood with a rolled canvass portrait in her hands. "NOW JOSETTE!" Hearing his voice she smiled, and laid the portrait in the burning fireplace.

Leviathan alter

The flames began to lick around Alexandru's body until it was like the portrait totally engulfed in flames. The flames were ripping at the very center of his soul and he saw no more his eyes fixed and went blank and then he was gone his ashes mixed with the dust from his castle. Barnabas looked around at the area and saw that Peter was busy draining the life from Klaus he had already taken Dieter down to a husk. It would be a matter of time before he had Klaus as nothing more than a husk.

"You are free Bradford, leave this state and never return as long as I live, you are not welcome here." Barnabas said turning his back he walked away leaving the vampire to his meal. The smell of blood had been strong in the air and it was all he could do not to fight Bradford for the rights of the meal. However his attention was more fixed to the problem at hand. That would be the return of Vicki to their lives.

Barnabas walked away from the scene of the carnage with a light footstep and the feel of the night now lightened by the burden he had held for so long. Barnabas strolled towards the main campus and to Elliott's classroom. Entering the building, he walked with self-confidence and relief towards the classroom and opened the door. Barnabas paused at the top of the stairs to watched an exhausted Willie collapsed in a chair, a now awakening Vicki, and a half sitting Julia speaking with the Professor.

"Well we appear to be one happy united family again." Barnabas observed from the top of the stairs. All heads turned and a smile lit up Vicki's face.

"Barnabas!" she tried to stand and found her body would not react to her demands so she sat quickly.

Quentin sauntered up the stairs. "Well cousin, you are right I was a knight this night." He chuckled at his double use of the word Knight in two different connotations.

"Yes, you all were heroes tonight. You Quentin for going against your nature to stay and see to the safety of our women, you Willie for unselfishly wanting to sacrifice yourself to protect Vicki. You Professor Stokes for allowing us to use your classroom."

"And you cousin for thinking up this plan to see to the end of a very evil sick man that will never harm us again." Quentin chimed in.

"Yes I suppose."

"You suppose?" Quentin chuckled. "You had anticipated the treachery that these devils were devising from the very beginning. I am amazed at how you were able to locate his portrait and to end his miserable life this night."

Barnabas sat next to Vicki and glanced at her dark eyes and noted she was pitifully thin. "I did not anticipate Judah Zachary interfering." He spoke with some degree of annoyance.

"Yes dear boy we all were very upset when Vicki disappeared as she had. Quentin nearly ran after the man but he too just disappeared."

"He was no man, he was a powerful dark power that had control over Angelique which was something else I had no thought of or concerns until I saw her with Alexandru's man." Barnabas had spoken dryly he laid the cane down and lifted Vicki's pale slender hand into his own and cover it.

"My dear how are you feeling?"

"Sick, I am not sure how I am going to react to the drugs they gave me but it's different this time."

Barnabas looked at Julia for some explanation.

"I think our friends had something to do with absorbing the drugs from her body to keep her from relapsing back into her addiction.

Barnabas smiled. "Yes we had a lot of help from many of our friends."

"Speaking of where is Bradford?" Quentin asked he looked around and then turned his attention back to his cousin.

"I let him go, he is to leave this state and never return."

"Oh dear Julia!" Lang rushed into the room from above and down the steps towards Julia. He hurried to her side and lifted her into his arms. "My dearest Julia. You are safe and home!" He kissed her deeply but to the chagrin of Julia demonstrating his affection for her in front of so many people.

"Eric, please wait until we are alone."

Professor Stokes began to chuckle. "Yes we do so frown on PDA in our classrooms."

Julia blushed and turned into the hold of her lover. "I suppose we can head back to Collinwood. I am sure everyone will be happy to see Vicki."

"I know I am happy to be back. I was so afraid I would never see you all again. I even got to a point that I wondered if I wanted to live." Her voice had grown so soft and quiet she had spoken with so much emotion it had become contagious and was washing over the room and affecting everyone.

"Well my dear you are home with those that love you and are glad you found your self reliance to want to live and be with us once again." Professor Stokes spoke with an engaging kind look over Vicki now leaning her head to rest it on Barnabas' shoulder. He listened to Barnabas speak to her in his tender sweet manner, "Yes, we are all happy to have you back my dear. Glad you are in one piece and a part of our big happy family once again."

Elliott was reminded of his own family and his new responsibility to protect his niece. Had this been her he was not so sure he would have been as adept to bring her home in one piece.

Vicki smiled tiredly and then yawned. "I am so tired, I did not realize how tired until now."

"Come my dear time to get you home." Barnabas turned and took her hand in his and tugged her up into his supporting arms. Their eyes met and for a moment she was so close to his lips that they nearly touched. Blinking she smiled and leaned into Barnabas for support.

"Yes I want to go home."

Prolog

Old House

Barnabas stood at the fireplace and stirred the ashes and smiled, a tiny slip of the corner of the canvass with a seared name of Tate appeared. Barnabas knew it was the signature part of the canvass. The only part of the portrait's signature that now remained. Barnabas considered keeping that sliver of the portrait but thought better and rebuilt the fire and watched as the flames licked are the scrap of material and then consumed the last of the painting and he smiled. Alexandru Mircea was gone and never would he haunt them again. Gone was his life with his dreams of resurrecting the woman that had held his thoughts for nearly two centuries, he watched the last of the painting go up in ashes. Turning with a deliberate slowness he walked back to his desk and sat. He would not worry about Alexandru or Klaus again. They no longer were a part of his world.

A soft knock on the door and Barnabas lifted his head and peered at the door. "Come."

The door opened and Willie stepped in shifting from one foot to another. "Um Barnabas Vicki is here and so are the doctors they wanted to know when you wanted your next injection?"

Barnabas smiled at the thought of spending his evening with Vicki but the smile faded at the thought of the doctors requiring him in the cellar. "Make Miss Winters comfortable in the drawing room, I shall go down and see the doctors."

Willie hesitated and looked as if he wanted to say something. "Yes Willie what is it?"

"Um if you get normal what will happen to me?"

Barnabas smiled the word normal giving him a glimmer of hope and renewal. "Well I suppose you will continue here with me if you wish Willie. But let us wait and see what happens shall we?"

Lookout Pointe

In a room at Lookout Point, Nicholas Blair sat in front of his own gas operated fireplace, feet up, wearing a comfortable smoking jacket, and holding a fine grade of brandy in his hand he looked into the fire and frowned, there is was again, distant and pleading the voice of Angelique, "Nicholas! Find me! Help me! Please Nicholas find me!"

"Well, well, well, my dear it seems you have gotten yourself in quiet a pickle. We must see what this will bring won't we?" He smiled sipped his brandy and sighed deeply. "What will I do with you once I find you hmmm?"

Nicholas smiled and then he thought of the saucy redhead that had caught his attention. "Oh yes Maggie Evans, my dear what a treat you will be." He sipped again and closed his eyes. "All in time all in good time."

The End

So ends this chapter of Paths Taken. The next installment will be Hell on Earth. What new challenges will face the Collins family as David is drawn deeper into the darkness with a tempting call from the past, and will Vicki find happiness with a man that lives his life in the past or will both find new paths to take that will ultimately bring them happiness hell on earth..


End file.
